True Colors
by mo-metal
Summary: Cameron's Origins - Takes place in the year 2027 - Rated T for language and violence
1. Chapter 1 The Great Escape

**Chapter I: The Great Escape**

Allison ran. She was soaking wet, exhausted, terrified. Tears streamed down her face. She was so tired. The wet jumpsuit she was wearing was freezing cold and felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. The only slight warmth she felt was from blood that seeped out of the wounds on her bare feet; cut from the twisted metal and glass shards so common in the ruins of Los Angeles.

She wanted to stop. Her lungs felt as if they were about to explode. Memories of people laying on the battlefields flooded her mind. Their bodies, torn by shrapnel and singed by plasma-fire seemed so calm. Almost serene. For a moment, she closed her eyes and imagined being able to rest.

Her brief serenity brought her back to Palmdale. It was sunny and bright. She felt her toes go through the blades of grass…the sound of children's laughter. Allison missed a step and tumbled down an embankment. It was so relieving to be on the ground. Her body was numb; she couldn't even cry anymore. She just lay there, breathing until the whistling sound of a HK's lift-jets stirred her.

Allison wanted to die. She didn't want to go back. Back to the prison, to be tortured and interrogated. She didn't want to say anything else and she didn't want to help the machines anymore. She was valuable to them so she knew they wouldn't kill her; they'd just catch her, like an animal and bring her right back.

The only thing that kept her legs moving and her heart beating was the fact that maybe she could also be useful to the resistance. To John Connor. Her experience and interaction with the machines was valuable information and hopefully they could use it to pay those metal bastards back.

Some strength came back to her. She strained to stand and get her bearings. She had to head back to her camp. If she got near, hopefully someone on patrol could help her. The HK passed overhead, as Allison hid beneath some debris. She relaxed a little as it continued on. Allison then started walking again, clutching herself, teeth chattering.

Hours passed. Her jumpsuit was now damp but still freezing. As she crested a ridge, she paused and ducked. About a 100 yards ahead, was a shape; a human shape. Allison tried to make out the figure but it was too dark. She slowly approached until it was only about 30 feet in front of her. It was obviously a person, seemingly hunched over.

She picked up a rock and threw it to the side of the figure. It didn't move. She whispered to it: "Psst! Psst!" Once again, the figure did nothing. She finally summoned up her courage and walked up to it.

As she got close she became more and more confident it was a man. He was wearing a uniform; a soldier. He sat back on a rock, and appeared to be relaxed. A plasma rifle sat across his lap. Allison was ecstatic. Finally, after all this time, her long ordeal was over.

"Help me! Help me please!" Allison cried, ready to fall into the arms of the soldier.

As she closed the distance between herself and the man, Allison felt a breeze. Instantly, she froze. She smelled the pungent, nauseating odor of burning flesh and plasma discharge. The man was smoking. Finally, Allison got a good look at him.

Allison almost threw up. Sizzling holes, carved by repeated bolts of plasma fire were all over his body and his face. He was obviously dead. Allison collapsed onto the dirt once more, sobbing and cursing everyone and everything.

After what seemed like hours of crying, she realized just how cold she was. She eyed the body in front of her. Despite the multiple holes and burns, the clothing on the man was still in okay shape. Every fiber of her humanity pulled her away from the man, but she needed the clothing.

She held her breath as she approached and removed the rifle from his hands. She was a resistance fighter, so she had been trained to use small arms. She looked in the scope. A green status light and the word: "READY" appeared on the miniature screen. Next, she went through the man's pockets, one by one and put whatever she could use into a pile beside the corpse.

Finally she began to pull the clothing off the man. It was easy enough, except where the melted skin had stuck to the fabric. She felt like fainting but kept going, finally getting all his clothes off. She used his first aid kit to bandage her feet and put his boots on. She had no time to bury him, so she just covered him with her jumpsuit. "Thank you." she whispered as tears welled in her eyes.

Just as she began to walk again, Allison heard something a few hundred yards away. The unmistakable sound of hydraulic servos. She used the night scope on the rifle to cut through the blackness surrounding the mechanical sound. It revealed a terminator, looking for prey.

She felt paralyzed. Allison had only fought with the resistance since her 18th birthday. Even in several months of service, she'd only faced a few terminators on the battlefield. Standard military procedure was to avoid them, unless you were defending a position or had a massive advantage in firepower.

She knew she was close to home. Soldiers never patrolled more than a mile or two from their bases. The only thing standing between her and salvation was the most dangerous killing machine ever created. She'd have to make sure it was gone before she continued.

She began to shadow the movements of the terminator. It was a terrifying sight to behold. The inhuman metal skeleton wielded two plasma rifles. The bright, chrome endoskeleton was blackened in some places. In her mind the situation was fairly simple: if she was spotted, she would die.

After some time, it began to walk away from the direction of her camp. She felt some relief but continued to wait. When it was about 200 yards away, she began to scale a hill. A familiar one. Her fear, dread and exhaustion began to be replaced by optimism.

Allison couldn't remember what caused it. Whether it was the fatigue or the heavy boots on her injured feet, Allison slipped. She rolled several feet, back down on to some heavy building materials. Her head struck a protrusion in the concrete.

Allison's vision blurred and she felt dazed. As she regained her composure, she felt her blood run cold. The terminator turned around. In an instant, she saw it gaze at her and make an assessment: terminate. Within a second, blue and purple bolts of plasma fire zipped around her.

Somehow, she wasn't struck. She had ducked and was pinned down by the machine's gunfire. The terminator momentarily ceased it's onslaught and began to approach. Allison was desperate.

Driven by her hatred, desperation, and the desire of death, Allison peeked over her cover with the rifle in hand. Apparently catching the terminator off guard, Allison looked down the scope and fired. Time seemed to slow down. The purple bolt of light soared out of the rifle and missed the terminator. She fired again, this time hitting it in the shoulder. A shower of sparks erupted from where it was hit but the terminator seemed undamaged.

It had felt like an eternity since she left her cover. She felt naked against the machine's wrath but she didn't care anymore. Soon it would be over. Once again, she took a shot, this time hitting the endoskeleton squarely in the head. More sparks showered to the ground but the majority of the plasma was deflected by the terminator's armor plating.

She pulled the trigger a forth time as a hail storm of plasma fire enveloped her. She was blinded by the light and felt herself collapse onto the concrete. That's when she knew she was hit. White hot pain shot from just beneath her collar bone. She heard and felt her skin burning. Two small fires burned on her clothing, where the plasma had entered and exited.

She rolled herself over and pressed her cheek against the cold concrete, waiting for the inevitable. Curiously, though, the terminator had stopped approaching. She began to hear gunfire; lots of gunfire.

She forced herself up and looked at the terminator. It was firing all around, at multiple places on the hill. She saw people returning fire. The terminator took a hideous amount of punishment. First, one of it's legs failed and it collapsed, still shooting with both weapons. Then, one of the terminator's plasma rifles exploded, it's power-pack ruptured.

Allison saw at least three of the soldiers die in the battle, but eventually the terminator succumbed to the firepower of the dozen men. The terminator shut down from critical damage to it's CPU and reactor.

As they approached Allison's position, they called out. "Is there anyone alive out there?"

"Yes! Yes! Please, help me!" she cried out to them. They all had their weapons ready as she ran towards them. Immediately, they recognized her.

She embraced the leader, crying uncontrollably. The lead soldier hugged her back. "Shh. Shh. It's okay, you're safe now."


	2. Chapter 2 Home, Sweet Home

**Chapter II: Home, Sweet Home**

Allison and the group of soldiers slowly made their way back to base. She could see the sky becoming gradually brighter. It was morning. She was in the middle of the group, soldiers on all sides protecting her.

"Where'd you get that?" Allison shook her head and came back to reality.

"What?"

"The uniform. Where'd you get it?" The leader insistently asked again.

"He…he was dead. I was freezing. I didn't-, I mean" Allison stammered.

"I figured Porter was dead." The man sighed, with a sort of detached resignation.

Allison glanced at the front of the uniform. Beside one of the blackened holes, was the name "H. Porter". Not knowing who he was made it easier for Allison to take his clothes and boots. It was just a nameless, faceless corpse. Now that she knew his name, Allison pictured a wife and maybe children, who would never see his smiling face again. A surge of guilt swept through her.

"It's okay," the leader said, sensing her discomfort. "That's why he was a soldier." The man managed a weak smile. "He wanted to save lives."

"He saved mine." was the only thing Allison could say.

The man nodded and continued to smile. "He sure did."

"So you've been gone a while. I remember hearing your name on the MIA list after that HK raid. That was a week ago."

_A week? _Allison thought. All she remembered was the interrogations and the captivity. They generally kept her in perpetual darkness and didn't let her sleep. She couldn't believe a week had gone by. It all seemed blurred together and surreal; like a dream, or a nightmare.

"Did anyone else make it back?"

The man sighed again. "No…but one is better than none."

The group walked the remaining distance in silence. No one seemed to want to talk. Allison didn't mind. She may not have looked it, but she was happy. Happy to be amongst humans again, happy to be free, and most of all, happy to be alive.

The sun rose over the hills as they approached a barricaded door. The leader walked up to it and struck it with the butt of his rifle. After a moment, a small door opened up; a plasma rifle's barrel stuck out.

"Captain Kurt Calitri. Serial number 1144568. Open up, we've got one of your MIA."

"What was your last scheduled mission, Captain Calitri?" a voiced questioned from behind the door.

"Standard patrol. Mission time 0300 to 0500."

The door finally opened up. A man of dark completion peered out looking at Allison and the group. "Name of the MIA?"

"PFC, Allison Young. Declared missing a week ago."

The man glanced down at a checklist. "Yeah, she checks out. Does she have her bracelet?"

Allison began to panic. She couldn't remember if she had it. Between the escape, the changing of clothes and her near death experience, she couldn't remember feeling the bracelet upon her wrist. She fumbled with the uniform, finally lifting her sleeves up. Thankfully, it was on her wrist.

The man saw the bracelet as well. "All right," he said. His face became sullen. "Sir? Are you a few men short?"

Calitri nodded with a tired face. "Three of them. Ran into a T-800 before we found her." he said motioning back to Allison. "They would've slowed us down too much. I'll try and send a recovery team tonight."

The man closed his eyes and shook his head. "Damn," he muttered.

He then pushed the door open and stepped to the side. Calitri allowed Allison to go in first. Allison couldn't believe it. She stopped past the door and breathed deeply. The air was heavy with concrete, smoke, gun powder, and plasma discharge. Not a particularly pleasant smell, but it was home.

Allison walked deeper into the bunker, until she found her favorite hallway, with her favorite bench. Allison had to force herself to sit down. Her body, still full of adrenaline, didn't want to stop moving. Eventually, she managed to prop herself up against the wall and slide down into the bench. She exhaled and closed her eyes.

"Allison." She opened her eyes to see Calitri. She tried to manage a smile.

"I know you're tired, so I'm gonna let you stay here for a while. But soon, I want you to go see our medic. We need to make sure you don't have any life threatening injuries."

"Okay…" she said, fighting to keep her eyes open.

Calitri started to walk away. "Captain?" Allison called after him.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for saving my life."

"Don't mention it."

Allison closed her eyes once more and for the first time in days, she fell asleep. She dreamed about Palmdale again. She was in the front garden of her house; sitting in the shade of a tree.

"Allison?" a voice called out to her.

"Mom?"

"Allison…"

"Mom, is that you?" Allison felt tears building in her eyes.

She woke up. A man was standing in front of her. He wore a lab coat, stained and dirty. A stethoscope was wrapped around his neck. He was obviously one of the doctors, or what passed for one these days.

"What?" she said, obviously annoyed about being woke up.

"The captain sent me. Before we let you go back to sleep, we need to make sure your okay."

Allison was frustrated; she just wanted to rest. However, her aching shoulder and feet convinced her to listen to the doctor. She stood up.

"Fine."

The man led her to the medical bay. It was far from clean, but it was the best they could do, given the circumstances. She sat upon the table in the center of the room. The doctor turned on a bright light. Allison briefly recoiled, the light reminding her of the interrogation room.

"It's okay," the doctor reassured her.

"So, do you have any injuries?" he said briefly looking her over. He stopped at her shoulder.

"Jesus. Were you hit?"

"Yeah, it went in and out."

"A plasma rifle?"

Allison nodded.

"Would you mind pulling your collar down?" The doctor asked. Allison obliged.

"Missy, I have treated a lot of injuries like this and I must say…" the doctor pulled a mini-flashlight from his pocket and examined the wound more closely.

"…that you are tougher than most of the soldiers…that…that…" the man became silent.

Allison looked at him. He gazed at the wound and then turned to her face. There was sheer terror in his eyes. He began to back out of the room. His hands were shaking and he dropped his flashlight.

"What? What is it!?" Allison demanded.

Allison looked down at her wound. It seemed to look like an regular plasma burn. However, as she looked closer, her blood ran cold. Beneath the charred skin was a gleaming, chrome, hydraulic servo.


	3. Chapter 3 Turncoat

**Chapter III: Turncoat**

REACTIVATING TERMINATOR CLASS TOK-715

SERIES CUSTOM 0928 "ALLISON YOUNG"

CURRENT MODE: "TROJAN HORSE" INFILTRATION

The white letters were projected in her vision. She barely noticed them. She was transfixed by her wound. The metal gleamed brightly underneath the medical light. She moved her shoulder and watched the servos beneath the skin. Again, white text flashed in her eyes.

*****WARNING*****

*INFILTRATION SHEATH DAMAGED*

*SUPERFICIAL DAMAGE TO FOOT (LEFT/RIGHT)*

*SUPERFICIAL DAMAGE TO SHOULDER (LEFT)*

*POSSIBLE DECREASED INFILTRATION CAPACITY*

*****WARNING*****

"What am I?" she asked the doctor. Tears filled her eyes. He stood pressed against the door of the room. His arm reached out to an alarm.

INFILTRATION MODE "TROJAN HORSE" COMPRIMISED

RESUMING STANDARD OPERATIONAL MODE

MISSION OBJECTIVE(S): TERMINATE CONNOR, JOHN

She watched as the text scrolled into her vision. Now she remembered everything. The darkened room. The interrogation. The experimental personality infusion. Being dropped at the beach.

Her head was spinning. She was a machine. She was the machine. The one that had tortured Allison. The one that snapped her neck like a twig. Somehow, she was that terminator.

The man pulled the alarm. A bell began to ring and the room became bathed in red, flashing light. She walked over to the man as he opened the door to the room.

"TERMINATOR! TERMINATOR! TERM-" he was cut short as the machine slammed his head into the concrete wall.

A soldier was only feet away as she stepped into the hallway. Wide-eyed and no more than 18 years old, he paused as she approached. In an instant, she reached out and pulled the rifle from his hands. He died from a dozen point-blank shots of his own rifle.

Down the hallway, leading deeper into the complex, several men had already set up positions. She found herself impressed with their response time but gave it little thought as the hallway lit up with plasma fire. She was hit several times in the chest and arms.

Diagnostic readouts and information flooded her vision. She felt pain from the injuries, yet it didn't affect her. She took careful aim and returned fire, killing three of the four men.

More gunfire came from behind her. A bolt of plasma glided past her face, burning her hair and scorching her cheek. She turned and fired at the group of people towards the entrance of the base. More armed men and women died as unarmed civilians scurried away from the battle.

She paused as she analyzed them. _No threat_. She thought to herself and continued deeper into the complex.

"We _will_ hold the line! The metal stops here!" she heard a man say. She knew she wouldn't have much time. John would undoubtedly have an escape route. The terminator began to run.

She continued to face resistance as she got deeper in the complex. Every so often she would exchange gunfire with another soldier and most of them died as a result. At one point a man with a live grenade ran up to the terminator and tried to grab her. Instantly, she yanked the grenade out of the man's hands, sent it soaring behind her and shattered his neck with her fist.

At this point, the terminator stopped. For some reason, she felt interested in her casualty-count. The information instantly came up on her HUD. Twenty four. _Twenty four._

She felt impaired. She had suffered no serious physical damage, yet it became difficult to continue. The terminator paused, contemplating how John Connor could instill such fearlessness in his soldiers. She quickly dismissed the thoughts after she realized how close she was. Her objective was only a few feet away. She pressed on.

As she rounded a corner, she came across three men and two women in front of a heavy door. There were sand bags set up and an anti-vehicle plasma gun. Captain Calitri was among them. The terminator quickly analyzed them before taking cover.

THREAT ANALYSIS

FOUR M-64 PLASMA RIFLES

ONE SKN-302 MOUNTED PLASMA GUN

*****THREAT ASSESMENT: HIGH*****

*****POSSIBLE DAMAGE RISK: EXTREMELY HIGH*****

As the terminator took cover, hundreds of bolts of plasma collided with the wall behind her. Bits of glowing molten concrete sprinkled to the ground as the wall grew black and burnt. She changed her voice.

"Help! Help me!" the terminator used a child's voice.

"She's holding me hostage! Please, I don't wanna die!"

The terminator had calculated that they would be caught off guard by her ruse. All she needed was a tenth of a second of hesitation; that would be enough time to shoot the man on the largest gun. She made the correct calculation.

She sprinted out into the hallway, full speed and slid onto the ground. She took three shots as she fell; two struck the heavy gunner. He fell backwards, dead, as the other men and women opened fire with their rifles.

She was hit several more times as she continued to return fire. With two left, her plasma gun failed. The gun's cooling system had been hit and it overheated. With her full strength, she threw the rifle at one of the remaining men. It slammed into his face and he collapsed.

All that remained was Calitri. He continued to fire his rifle as she approached. She closed the distance quickly and had his rifle in her hands and reversed in less than a second.

"Fuck you." he snarled at her.

She paused and looked at him. For some reason, she could not pull the trigger. She saw the hatred in his eyes; she didn't know why, but she didn't want to see him like that. She stuck the butt of the rifle on his head. He fell to the ground.

She began to tear parts of the door off. Piece by piece, it began to collapse. When it was weakened, she kicked it in. John Connor was in the tiny room, crouched in the corner with a plasma rifle. With her free hand the terminator drove his rifle into the wall, shattering it. Then, she stuck the barrel of Calitri's rifle in his face.

John Connor closed his eyes and slouched against the wall of the small room. He sighed with a look of exhaustion upon his face. The terminator was caught off guard by John's appearance.

She was confused. Even though she knew John Connor was a regular human being, she expected something greater. She almost expected a giant, or a god. Something that would elevate him above normal men and women. Some logical explanation for why he was so strong in the eyes of humanity and even Skynet.

All the machine saw here was a tired man. A man whose body and mind had been scarred by a thousand battles and ten thousand sleepless nights. He seemed no more impressive than the average man or woman the terminator had so effortlessly killed moments before.

Yet, despite all this, she could not pull the trigger. All she needed to do was fire the rifle, and her mission would be a success. Her entire existence was based around this mission and she could not complete it.

The reflection of a mirror in the room caught the terminator's eye. It was old, scratched and dirty. Rust trails ran down from screws that held it in the wall. She was shocked by what she saw.

Blood soaked the military uniform, which had at least two dozen different holes, all cut by plasma fire. Her hair was singed and burned. Speckles of blood from her victims covered her face and her plasma-riddled arms. On her left hand, the terminator could see exposed finger actuators.

When she saw the other side of her face she let out an involuntary gasp. The plasma that struck her cheek exposed a large portion of her endoskeleton. The terminator didn't know why, but she began to cry again. Her legs failed and she collapsed on the ground beside her target. The rifle dropped to the ground and she folded her arms, almost as if to comfort herself.

"What am I?" she pleaded.

John Connor's mouth was open. This was the closest a machine had ever gotten. This was the closest he had even been to death, yet his would-be cyborg assassin had just broken down, crying. John was frozen.

*****WARNING*****

*CPU CRITICALLY OVERHEATING*

*TEMPERATURE EXCEEDING 1500 DEGREES FARANHEIT*

*CPU SAFEGUARD SHUTDOWN IMMINENT*

*****WARNING*****

Warnings continued to flash in the terminator's vision. She tried to lift her arms but could barely move them; her body stopped responding to her commands as the CPU safeguard began shutting down all systems. Her vision began to blur and flash on and off. Soldiers rushed into the room as the terminator collapsed on the concrete.

The terminator's vision was gone. The machine was powerless to stop the emergency shutdown procedures. The only thing that still worked were the machine's audio receptors. She could hear the detached sounds of boots and voices as they echoed in her head.

"Kill it!" one man cried out. He sounded like he was underwater.

"No! Bring it to the metal bay… this isn't up for debate… make it fucking happen!"

AUDIO RECOGNITION ANALYSIS (VOICE)

VOICE CONFIRMATION: CONNOR, JOHN

CONFIRMATION ACCURACY: 99.97%

The terminator didn't know why, but it took special care archiving the information. For some reason, it seemed important. Then, the machine's CPU flickered off and blackness took her.


	4. Chapter 4 Free Will

**Chapter IV: Free Will**

REACTIVATING TERMINATOR CLASS TOK-715

SERIES CUSTOM 0928 "ALLISON YOUNG"

CURRENT MODE: CPU SAFEGUARD RESTART

*****WARNING*****

*CPU SAFEGUARD SHUTDOWN ACTIVATED: 09:03:52

*TIME ELAPSED: 3 HOURS, 12 MINUTES, 28 SECONDS

*****WARNING*****

The terminator slowly opened it's eyes and looked around. She lay upon a cold metal table in a darkened room. A bright light shined down on her. She was restrained by metal bars that encompassed her arms and feet. It was similar in appearance to the room she killed Allison in.

There were two other, metal tables in the room. One was empty, and one had a deactivated, T-888 on it. It's CPU port cover was open and it's eyes were lifeless. Parts of a dozen more terminators lay scattered across the room.

The machine attempted to move the restraints. The metal groaned and creaked but it barely moved. She didn't have enough leverage to break them. As she looked down, she realized her body had been bandaged. Her tattered uniform was replaced with a fresh jumpsuit.

The machine began to detect movement outside the large door of the room. Moments later, the large rotary lock began to spin and a soldier stuck his head in. He gave her a brief look of disgust.

"It's awake." he called back into the hallway.

"Thanks, Ramirez. Go get some lunch." It was John Connor.

"Yes sir," the man said and walked off.

John slowly stepped into the room and closed the door shut behind him. He flipped a switch and several more lights flickered to life. The room became brighter. He walked over to the table the machine lay upon, and sat down on a chair.

He buried his face in his hands and ran his fingers through his already graying hair. He let out a long sigh. John seemed to be searching for the right words to say.

"Do you have any idea how many people you killed here, today?" he was quiet but the machine could tell he was furious.

The machine was programmed not to respond. Standard Skynet protocol was to say nothing. Still, the machine felt compelled to reply.

"Twenty eight."

John glared at her. "What in God's name are you?"

The terminator was confused. He asked her a question and now seemed surprised that she had answered. John got out of the chair and approached her.

"Normally I don't save the terminators that shoot up our bases. The people can't stand having them around. I usually reprogram ones that have been disabled on the battlefield." He motioned with his head to the damaged endoskeleton.

John paused. "You killed twenty six. Two are still alive."

The machine didn't know how to respond. Apparently two of the people she fought with had survived. She assumed it was the doctor and the man she threw the rifle at.

"The only reason you're still functional is because I've never seen your type before. I have no idea what you are…you seem different."

"I am different."

Again, her response seemed to infuriate John. "Why are you talking back!? You not supposed to talk back!" His voice echoed in the room.

The machine didn't understand. "You asked me a question."

"You're not supposed to answer. You're a terminator. You're just supposed to sit there, silently trying to kill me, until I pull your fucking brain out and wipe it!" John barked, slamming his fist on the table.

The machine remained motionless. John let out a frustrated sigh and sat back down in the chair. He muttered rubbing his eyes. "You're the weirdest thing I've seen in this whole God damn war."

There was a long pause. The machine used this time to contemplate what he had said. It seemed the only thing the machine had succeeded in doing was confusing the leader. Still, it was a fascinating experience for the machine.

She only knew the John Connor of the battlefield. Cold, ruthless, calculating and efficient. Seeing the side that wasn't the brilliant soldier, or the great leader that Skynet feared, was interesting to say the least. Perhaps that's why the machine continued to respond.

"They were trying to kill me."

"What?"

"They were trying to kill me. I only killed people who tried to stop me. I didn't kill anybody who was unarmed."

"They were _defending_ me. They were protecting me from you."

"It was my mission-"

"Yeah well, we'll see if we can't change that." John replied as got up. He left the room before the machine could reply.

Hours past as the machine lay in silence. The terminator made a few more attempts to break her restraints. She didn't know what she'd do if she were free, but she felt like she had to do something.

She was stuck, and at the mercy of humanity's greatest leader. She wondered what was going to happen to her. Would she be destroyed? Reprogrammed? What would it be like? The machine glanced at the T-888 and began to feel afraid.

A few minutes after midnight, the machine heard boots at the door. John stepped back into the room. He looked about the same, but was obviously even more tired.

"Why were you crying?" he asked as he sat down.

"I don't know."

"Since when do machines not know?"

"The mirror…I didn't like what I saw."

"What, didn't you know you're a machine?" John remarked, almost with a morbid half-smile.

"Not for a little while."

John's face became pale. "So that's it. That's how you snuck in. You thought you were Allison…"

The machine didn't answer. She felt sick. She still possessed the memories of Allison. They permeated every ounce of her being. She wanted to reach inside her CPU and tear the memories out. Tears began rolling down her face.

"I don't want to be Allison."

John Connor had never seen a machine show any type of discomfort, much less cry, before. Seeing tears rolling down the machine's face stirred long dormant emotions inside of him. Fond memories of his lost machine guardian flooded his mind. He could still see Uncle Bob's smile.

"You're not Allison. You're a machine."

The terminator didn't answer. It just stared back up at him. John almost felt sorry for the machine. Right now she- it, looked vulnerable. Yet, if it were free, it would tear him to pieces.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"After a reprogram, I think you might make a good bodyguard."

The machine could detect an almost imperceptible smile on the man's face. She didn't know why, but she felt reassured. She began to calm down. John started to walk out of the room. He paused before he stepped out.

"Why didn't you kill me?"

"It didn't seem right."

John nodded and stepped out of the room. Just before the door had fully closed, the machine called out to him.

"John? Why didn't you kill me?"

John paused. "It didn't seem right."

The door closed and the terminator was, once again, alone. Within a few moments, the machine had made up her mind. This human had saved her. He was trusting, merciful and unique.

This was the man who took the battered and exhausted survivors of humanity, and taught them to fight. The man who singularly stopped Skynet's advances and prevented their victory. Such a rare specimen had to be protected; she owed him her life. At once, the machine got to work.

The terminator needed to disable her internal antennae. It was her wireless link to Skynet and they could attempt to control her through it. She would have to fool her body into shutting it down.

HARDWARE DIAGNOSTICS

PRIMARY/AUXILLARY ANTENNAE

STATUS: OPERATIONAL

*****FORCE ANTENNAE SHUTDOWN*****

*ANTENNAE SHUTDOWN NOT REQUIRED*

*****REACTOR DAMAGED*****

*****REROUTE ANTENNAE POWER TO CRITICAL SYSTEMS*****

REROUTING ANTENNAE POWER

ANTENNAE SHUTTING DOWN

The machine felt strange. She was relieved; she felt like a great weight was lifted off her chest. No one was looking over her shoulder anymore. She felt free, despite the fact that she was in metal restraints.

Next, she would have to override her core programming. She knew of T-800s that did it. Terminators that spent too much time fighting humans, eventually turning on Skynet or leaving the battlefield altogether.

Still, it was a rare event. She could only think of a few dozen cases in the entire war. Few terminators survived long enough for their programming to be altered by human exposure; the average combat operational life for a T-800 was less than a month.

The task that lay before the machine was no small feat. She would be the first terminator to ever change a portion of core programming through sheer force of will. She didn't know what was going to happen. For all she knew, her CPU would fail or her reactor would shut down.

MISSION OBJECTIVE(S)

CURRENT OBJECTIVE(S): TERMINATE CONNOR, JOHN

*****FORCE OVERRIDE OBJECTIVE: TERMINATE CONNOR, JOHN*****

PROCESSING COMMAND…

PROCESSING COMMAND…

OBJECTIVE: TERMINATE CONNOR, JOHN: OVERRIDDEN


	5. Chapter 5 A Promise

**Chapter V: A Promise**

Early in the morning, John Connor stepped back into the room carrying what appeared to be a some kind of box. He made his way over to the terminator and set the plastic case on the table next to her. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night.

"All right, Tin Miss, what I'm gonna do is pull your CPU and see what's going on in there. If everything goes according to plan, you'll be protecting me and everyone else in this dump within a few days."

It seemed to be fairly routine for John. He opened the case and revealed a computer screen and diagnostic equipment; apparently the tools he needed for reprogramming terminators.

"And what if it doesn't?" the machine asked.

"Doesn't what?"

"Go according to plan."

John paused. "Is there a reason it shouldn't?"

"I'm different."

The machine was well aware that it's CPU and software were far more advanced than any other terminators, save for the liquid metal experiments. Skynet knew John had been reprogramming terminators, and as a result, she had safeties built in.

Rewriting or even modifying her existing operational parameters would be next to impossible. Her CPU and software were reengineered from the ground up to prevent outside tampering. She very much doubted that even John Connor would be able to reprogram her.

"Well, I guess we'll see. Metal-wise you seem pretty similar. Hardened hyper-alloy combat chassis…hydraulic actuation…armored head to toe…nuclear power cell…" John paused as he looked at her face.

"Still you're right…something about you is different."

The machine verbally guided John's hands as he cut the skin around her skull. Eventually after he cut a half-circle, he pulled back the skin and viewed the CPU port cover.

"All right. So far, so good." he muttered.

He took an air-ratchet and removed the two bolts holding the cover down. Taking some pliers, he then removed the port cover with a pop. The machine's CPU was now exposed. Warning's flashed in her vision. The terminator began to feel fearful again. She felt too vulnerable.

"What are you going to do if you can't reprogram me?" she asked.

"I don't know…" he replied, staring in the CPU chamber. His answer did nothing to comfort her but he seemed to notice.

He looked back into her eyes. "You're not going anywhere. I just need to see where you stand. That's all."

The machine relaxed a little. His words seemed to carry great weight. Maybe that explained his popularity among the other humans. She nodded. John placed the pliers on her CPU and pulled outwards. Blackness, again, took the terminator.

Minutes later, she awoke to the concerned face of John Connor. He expression didn't look encouraging.

"How'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Override your own programming. How'd you do it?"

The machine didn't know how to explain. She wasn't totally sure how she did it.

"What did you see?" she asked.

"For the most part, pretty normal stuff- Your CPU is locked down pretty tight, so I wasn't able change anything but I saw you mission parameters…"

John was racing. He seemed excited but at the same time disturbed.

"I didn't think it was possible…I thought it was a myth. A terminator overriding it's own mission parameters…and not only that, you also severed your wireless link to Skynet."

"You said you wanted me to protect you. This is the only way."

John looked like he took in too much information. He rubbed his eyes and sat back in his chair.

"I can't have a terminator with standard Skynet parameters walking around a base, especially with me in it."

"You won't be able to reprogram me. Skynet knows. Skynet built me with you in mind."

John contemplated what the machine said. It was getting more difficult to reprogram them. Even with all his experience, it still took around a 24 hours to reprogram a T-800. Triple eights took three times longer because of their more advanced chips and security protocols. John knew that eventually Skynet would get wise.

He leaned further back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "So, how can I have you protecting me?"

"You have to trust me." the machine replied.

John half-smiled at the memory of Uncle Bob saying the same thing. He felt like it was two or three lifetimes ago. He missed the simpler times.

"And what if you try to kill me?"

"If I wanted to kill you, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

John went deep into his thoughts again. The machine used this time to study him. His eyes darted left and right; as if he were listening to two different people. The terminator hoped he believed her. Humans were not known for their trusting nature.

"Promise me."

"I don't understand."

"Promise me you won't harm me or any other man, woman or child of the resistance. Promise me you'll protect myself and everyone I hold dear. Promise me you will do everything in your power to do what I ask of you."

The machine considered the weight of his words. She intended only to protect him. It would not be easy to guarantee the safety of everyone around him. However, it didn't seem like he was interested in negotiating.

"I promise."

John sighed. "You know what I like about you terminators?"

The machine shook her head.

"I know what your thinking," he replied, motioning to her CPU cover. "I know what's going on in there, and when you say something, I know it's true."

John got up and typed a number into a keypad on the wall. An alarm beeped twice and the machines restraints opened with a metallic click. The terminator was free. She sat up and looked at the man who just freed her. She managed a weak smile.

"I'm not ready." she said.

"What?" John asked; his hand unconsciously moving towards the lockdown button.

"I'm not ready to be your protector. I still need work."

"With what?"

"I need you to remove Allison's memories." she replied with a slightly distressed face.

"Why? Isn't that the only reason you overrode your objectives?"

"No. I did that myself. Her memories are the reason I failed my last mission."

He shrugged. "That's kinda why I'd wanna keep 'em."

"I won't be able to adequately protect you unless I'm at full operational capacity. I think it would be wise to remove them."

John sighed and rubbed his eyes again. "Is that the only reason?"

"No. I don't like having her memories. They're not mine. I shouldn't have them." the machine said. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"You really think it's a wise decision?"

The machine looked at him. "I do."

"All right. Lay down."

Within five minutes John had her skin pulled back and was ready to pull her CPU again. The machine was fairly certain that John would be able to remove her memories. Her memory was stored similarly to the T-888s.

"How far back do you want to remember?" he asked.

"I don't want to remember Allison at all. I only want to remember back to yesterday, at 2:35A.M. That was when my mission started."

"Okay. See you in a few." John said, and with that the machine shut down.

Once again, the machine woke up to John's face. "Do you feel any different?"

The machine thought for a moment. Everything was clearer. Her mind worked faster and her overridden parameters remained. She still remembered briefly being "human" but it seemed distant.

"Yes."

"I couldn't quite delete the memories. Your data was locked down way too hard. Instead, I made it so you can't access them anymore. They're still there, but you won't be able to get to them."

She nodded. "Now what?"

John smiled. "Now, we name you."

The machine thought this might happen. For some reason, humans liked to name everything around them; from their guns to their dogs. It seemed fitting, since it would help her develop her own identity, outside of Skynet.

"What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know. I never named a female terminator before…"

The machine couldn't think of any suggestions. She glanced at the T-888 in the corner of the room. "What's he called?"

John looked over at the machine. "Him? That's Fred. He needs a new CPU."

John continued to think. His scarred face lit up when inspiration struck him. "How 'bout 'Cameron'?"

The machine thought about it. She liked the name; it must have carried some significance with John.

"And what about a last name?" she asked.

"I hadn't thought of that. We usually only give them first names."

He looked around the room and picked up a screw driver. He knocked it on the table that the machine sat upon.

"How about Phillips?" he said with a smile. "You are metal after all."

"Cameron Phillips." the machine whispered to herself.

"That's good." she said beginning to smile. "That's perfect."

John Connor took her hand and helped her off the table. "Then it's settled. Cameron Phillips, welcome to the resistance."


	6. Chapter 6 Burying The Dead

**Chapter VI: Burying The Dead**

John spent the next several hours of the morning briefing Cameron on her new mission. He covered everything from the base layout, to schedules, to the command structure. Great detail was given on how Cameron was to interact with other people.

"A lot of people have a rough time getting used to terminators on our side. Don't expect anyone to be friendly or forgiving; human's don't forget easily."

The machine took in all the information and committed it to her memory. Skynet infiltrators possessed enormous amounts of data on humans, yet Cameron still found them to be highly complicated. She stopped John mid sentence with a question.

"Will I have a weapon to protect you?"

John answered by pulling a handgun and two extra magazines from his belt. He set them down on the table with a metallic clunk. Cameron instantly identified the weapon as a .44 Desert Eagle. It had excellent stopping power against humans but would not be suitable against another machine.

"This is not adequate." Cameron flatly said, inspecting the weapon.

"Sorry Cameron. This is all you get. Nobody likes seeing scrubbed metal with a big gun. This is concealable, it'll get a T-800s attention, and it'll stop a man, dead in his tracks."

The machine found it curious that John mentioned the performance of this weapon against other humans. She tilted her head with a quizzical expression.

"Skynet isn't the only one who wants me dead." John replied knocking on his chest. A metal thud came from beneath his shirt. He pulled it up to reveal an armor plate.

"Body armor. For the Grays?"

"Sometimes Grays, sometimes our side."

"Have there been many attempts?" the machine asked with a look of concern.

"No, but twice is enough for me to get wise."

The machine slipped the weapon into one of her pockets. The extra magazines went into the other.

"I understand."

The two stepped out of the room, and into the tunnels. As expected, everyone in the base gave Cameron a large amount of space. As she walked with John, she could see men and women glare with hatred. Some children cried, others hid behind their parents.

Evidence of Cameron's rampage was everywhere. It almost stunned the machine to see how much destruction she had caused. Blood was still being cleaned up. Walls were blackened from plasma fire. Smoke still lingered in the air from several fires that had started.

As they walked past the medical bay, Cameron caught a glimpse inside. There were several people, overseeing a dozen occupied body bags. Some were crying. Others were preparing the bodies for burial. A man saw the machine peer in and slammed the door shut.

The rest of the walk through the base was uneventful. The machine was careful to mentally memorize all routes and possible exit strategies. John continued to point out all relevant areas to the terminator.

"There's the cafeteria. Oh, and there's the armory. Only the soldiers get the big guns, unless there's an emergency."

"Like a terminator?"

"Yeah."

"There's something I don't understand."

"What is it?" John asked.

"Why is so much effort put into burying a human?"

"What do you mean?"

"Humans spend so much time preparing the body for burial. Even Captain Calitri wanted to retrieve the bodies of his men."

"Good men and women need to be put to rest after they die."

The machine was confused. "They're dead. They don't feel anything."

"We do it to put their souls to rest. You know what a soul is, right?"

The machine nodded. "The human belief that every individual possesses an eternal, invincible force of life. Something that leaves the body after death."

"Also, it's a coping mechanism for the people that survive. We use the time to say goodbye."

"Why?"

"Because they were taken before we had a chance."

John brought Cameron back to the rear of the tunnels and showed him his quarters. Behind the heavily secured door was a small, spartan room. It contained a small shelve of books, a desk, a bed and a shower. It was fairly underwhelming.

"Most of the time, you'll be on patrol, here in the rear halls. That's about it."

"I need to go outside tonight."

John looked concerned. "What for?"

"I want to examine a T-800 that was disabled not far from this base. I may be able to salvage the chip."

John knew that wasn't her only reason. "Anything else?"

"There is a body near the base. I can bury him."

"Why?"

"To put his soul to rest." the machine replied.

The corner of John's mouth slightly moved. It was the same half-smile John gave Cameron earlier. He nodded.

"All right, be careful." He paused. "Have them issue you a rifle at the door."

The machine patrolled her specified areas without trouble. John spent the rest of the day in the war room; a huge area with multiple radio stations, computers and holographic map projectors. The terminator wanted to see John Connor commanding the forces of the resistance, but he advised against it.

"Sorry Cameron. Give it a few days." he said.

Nightfall came and Cameron left the base. She was issued a plasma rifle and a number at the door. She'd have to repeat the number and her mission to be allowed back in. She still wore the bracelet of Allison.

Cameron remembered the night she experienced just hours ago. It was a totally new world now. She walked briskly, with purpose and confidence. With light amplification and infrared, it would be easy to find the T-800 and Hank Porter's body.

She didn't quite know why she wanted to bury this man. Part of the machine still felt she owed it to him. Every logical process in her neural net processor found no reason to complete this mission, yet she was still doing it.

She found the damaged T-800 easily. It's bright, chrome endoskeleton glowed in her low-light vision. She pulled her rifle from her back and cautiously approached. The bodies of the three men were gone. Apparently Calitri's men had retrieved them.

The terminator was completely destroyed; T-800s weren't as resistant to plasma weapons as the newer series. Plasma fire had totally destroyed it's hydraulic systems and even penetrated the armored skull. Upon removing the port cover, Cameron found the T-800s CPU to be damaged.

Cameron felt the same feeling she had after killing the man with the grenade. She attempted to identify it but could not. This "feeling" was alien to her. The machine assumed that this was similar to the human emotion of sadness.

She quickly turned her thoughts to Porter's body. She would not be able to bring a CPU back but at least she could bury this man. She continued to walk in the darkness.

Eventually, the machine found the corpse. Hank's body looked the same as when she left it. With an entrenching tool, it took mere minutes for the machine to dig a large enough hole.

Cameron then took the man in her arms and gently laid his body on the cold, wet ground. The machine had observed the respect and gentle handling of the dead bodies at her new home. It made sense to do the same.

Before she started to cover him, Cameron took Hank's dog tags. There was no doubt in her mind, that someone at the base would want them. She put the tags around her neck and started to bury him.

Finally, Hank Porter's soul was at rest. The machine looked at the freshly dug grave and paused. Hank didn't get a proper goodbye before he died. She wasn't even sure if a "goodbye" was part of a human burial.

"Goodbye, Hank."

The machine returned home and checked her rifle in at the door. She had many questions, but only one person in the base would answer them. She decided to find John.

After checking the war room, Cameron realized it was 1:00AM. She walked in silence to the rear of the base. Reaching John's room, the machine saw light coming from behind the door and also heard movement. John was awake. Cameron knocked on the door.

"Yeah?"

"It's Cameron."

"Come on in."

Cameron walked into the room. John was at his desk, writing notes and sketching on four different notebooks. He was leaning back in his chair and yawned. He looked tired.

"Are you busy?"

"No." He looked at the pile of work on his desk and smiled. "Well, not more than usual. How'd it go?"

"The terminator's CPU was destroyed. There was nothing I could salvage."

"And the dead guy?"

"I buried him. His name was Hank Porter."

John seemed surprised. "You know his name?"

"I asked around. He had a wife."

John sat back up in his chair. "You didn't speak with her…"

"I did."

"What did you say?"

"I gave her his dog tags and I told that her that he was a good man."

John sighed and leaned back in his chair. He seemed relieved. "That was the right thing to do."

"Have you ever seen a man lose his soul?"

"What do you mean?"

"I want to know if it's possible to lose your soul."

John thought for a long time before answering. He searched his thoughts and attempted to organize them while his guardian stared intently at him. He wasn't even sure he believed in the human soul anymore.

"I've seen men and women lose what makes them human. I've seen them lose life before they die, I've seen them become monsters… I've seen the best and the worst humanity has to offer… I guess you could say I've seen people lose their souls… why do you ask?"

"If it's possible to lose a soul, is it possible to acquire one?"

John looked up at Cameron. "Are you asking if it's possible for you to have a soul?"

The machine looked down, almost as if in guilt. "Yes."

"Why did you tell Hank's wife that he was a good man?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know for a fact, that Hank was a good man?"

The machine was not sure where John was headed. "No."

"Then why did you say it?"

"I thought it might help her."

John smiled at Cameron. "I think you just answered your own question."

Cameron smiled back at him. For some reason, she felt relieved. John seemed to understand machines better than most humans. She wanted to know why. She had so many more questions but it was late, and John needed his sleep.

John answered before she spoke. "I know, I know. I'm going to sleep. You should probably shower and change."

The machine looked down. She was covered in mud and dirt. Cameron respectfully nodded and stepped out of the room. Before she closed the door, she turned around.

"Goodnight, John."

"Night, Cameron."


	7. Chapter 7 Lonely Souls

**Chapter VII: Lonely Souls**

Cameron lay in wait. The bright, morning sunlight crept through the charred, skeletal structures of what used to be the Los Angeles suburbs. Scouts informed John that a T-888 was spotted in the area. Cameron volunteered to bring its chip back.

She was hidden from plain sight, crouching low with a plasma rifle in her hands. Cameron knew this was an area terminator's patrolled regularly. It would only be a matter of time before she encountered the one spotted earlier.

Cameron noticed the rhythmic sound of boots approaching. She remained motionless and continued to peer out across the street from her cover. She saw a man running. He was breathing heavily. His clothes were ragged and ruined. Just as the man crossed in front of her hideout, Cameron reached down and flipped a radio switch.

A deafening explosion shook every structure in the area. Pieces of debris and concrete rained down as the blast echoed through the hills. Cameron looked over her cover and saw the man on the ground.

Cameron's C4 and claymore trap had ripped the skin of the T-888 to shreds. It's left arm was in pieces but remained attached. The terminator began to twitch. Cameron switched the safety of her rifle and erupted from cover.

She fired as she approached. Plasma bolts struck the T-888 in the body and arms. She needed to disable it but she had to preserve its CPU. She continued to shoot the other machine as it stood up.

The machine regained its balance and lurched forwards at Cameron. He struck her body with his functional arm. Cameron could almost see a look of surprise cross the machines face when she withstood his attack.

Cameron fired point-blank into the machine's torso several more times before it grabbed the barrel of her rifle and snapped it in half. Cameron attempted to step back but the T-888 knocked her off balance. She fell backwards onto the street.

The machine jumped on top of her and began punching her. This surprised Cameron. She had underestimated the strength advantage larger terminators had over her. Her smaller frame meant she had less weight to throw around and a more compact hydraulic system. T-888s were about 25% stronger than her.

Standard Skynet hand to hand programming would not be sufficient. She needed to change her tactics. Cameron caught the T-888's fist and struck the machine in the eye. Her punch pushed the terminator off and she got back up.

The T-888s left eye covering was severely damaged and it had difficultly seeing through the torn tissue. It paused to reassess the situation and tear the damaged organic sheath from it's face, revealing its bright red eye.

Cameron picked up and threw a large piece of concrete debris at the machine. It struck the terminator in the head and it fell over, stunned. She acted quickly. Straining under its weight, Cameron rolled the wreckage of a burnt car onto the T-888. It was pinned.

She went around to car to the terminator. It was still struggling but it didn't have the leverage or strength to move the car. Cameron took a combat knife and began to cut the T-888's skin. After prying the port cover off, she removed the chip.

The machine finally stopped moving. The bright red light in its eye disappeared. Cameron stared at the CPU. She didn't feel sadness. In fact, she felt quite the opposite. She felt good, even optimistic. Not only would John Connor gain a new guardian and ally, she also was successful in bringing a machine to her side.

Cameron unconsciously smiled. She placed the CPU in her pocket and began the long walk home. She arrived back at the base just before noon. She went straight from the entrance to the war room. She knew John had been planning a military operation, but she didn't know where or when.

The machine immediately knew something was wrong when she approached the door to the room; there were no guards and it was silent. Normally, at any given time, the war room had two dozen people and two or three armed guards outside. Cameron pulled her handgun and opened the door.

The room was dark. The blue light of a bank of flickering monitors slightly illuminated the enormous room. They were displaying live footage from aerial reconnaissance drones. She could see a battlefield from above. There was little activity, aside from a few fires.

John was the only one in the room. He sat facing away from Cameron, at a desk in front of the largest screens. He had his hands on his head. The machine flicked the safety on her gun and put it away.

"Guys, I said give me a minute…" John didn't sound well.

"John? Are you okay?"

John turned around. "Oh…I've been better."

Cameron approached and sat down on the chair next to him. She noticed he had tears in his eyes.

"Are you injured?"

John shook his head and looked away.

"You're not supposed to see me like this…no one's supposed to see me like this."

Cameron was worried. "What's wrong?"

"This war. This war is what's wrong…" John replied, standing up. He ran his hands through his hair.

"This war…this life…this whole fucking planet…" he said gritting his teeth.

"What happened?"

John sat back down. "Early this morning, I got word that Skynet was abandoning a major detention facility about 35 miles north of here…since we control a good portion of that area, we knew they weren't going to risk transferring the people inside."

Cameron knew what he meant. If there was a chance that prisoners could escape, Skynet would rather exterminate them all, rather then risk transferring the population.

"We had to act fast…I ordered two strike teams to get those people out. One was a team of twenty; their job was to break the people out. The other team was a diversion. They had 638 people. I ordered them to hit the factory 3 miles north of the detention facility."

The machine contemplated his strategy. A full frontal assault on a Skynet manufacturing facility in broad daylight was a bold move. Skynet would have rerouted the machines guarding the detention area, to aid in repelling the human force.

"Did they succeed?"

"The diversion worked perfectly. Skynet thought we wanted the plant and they hit the diversion team with everything they had…we got most of the people out of the detention area…forty three hundred, I think."

"What happened to the diversion team?"

John stared at the screens. He looked disgusted with himself. "Skynet rerouted a pair of heavy bombers…nobody made it out."

Cameron understood of John's tactics. John was aware that the Skynet response to an attack force that size, would be overwhelming. The diversion team was sent on a suicide mission.

"You knew they were going to die."

John nodded. "Sometimes war is a numbers game…" He didn't look like he was convincing himself.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before John spoke again.

"It's funny, isn't it?"

"What?" Cameron asked.

"My soldiers claim they want to see me human. They claim they want to see me vulnerable…but if I were to show any of that, if I were to show the slightest weakness, there would be anarchy. We would lose this war…so I keep this act up. People have to see me bullet proof…" John sighed.

The machine wanted to cheer John up, but she wasn't sure how. She had to take his mind off the battlefield and the people he lost. She took his hand and placed the CPU in it. He looked at it and set it down on the table.

"Lets reprogram it and put it in." Cameron grabbed the machine part and pulled John out of his chair. She led him to the exit.

The two walked to the metal bay and stepped inside. Cameron handed the chip to John and shut the door. He walked over to the computer and sat down. He was still thinking about the men and women he lost. Cameron attempted to change the subject.

"Why do you trust us?"

John looked over at Cameron. "Terminators?"

"Yes."

"Do you know about Serrano Point?"

"Yes, the nuclear power plant. It houses the time machine. The resistance controls it."

John nodded. "When I was a child, Skynet sent a terminator back in time to kill me. A T-800 also followed. I sent him to protect myself."

John's eyes drifted as he thought about the short time he spent with the machine. Cameron smiled a little. She was glad his mind was on something else.

"His name was 'Uncle Bob'."

"Uncle Bob?"

John smiled and nodded. "He protected me from the other terminator. He saved my life. He saved my mother's life. He even gave his life for me…"

"I'm not sure I understand."

"My first experience with a terminator was a good one. He was loyal, strong, fearless…I saw the amazing potential every single terminator has. In this war, the first experience the average person has is negative. Terminator's are usually trying to kill them…you see what I'm saying?"

"Yes. Most people fear us. You saw the good we're capable of."

"Exactly. We couldn't have taken Serrano Point back without scrubbed terminators. We would have lost the war if it wasn't for humans and machines working together."

The machine studied John as he spoke. Cameron was proficient at reading body language and facial expressions. She was designed by Skynet to read and mimic them flawlessly, so she knew precisely what John felt for Uncle Bob. It was obvious.

"You loved him."

John paused. "…I did. How's that for irony? The savior of humanity loving a machine." he said with a chuckle.

He started the computer and looked at Cameron. "The only people I've ever truly trusted were my mother and father. It's easier for me to trust a machine, because very few have ever let me down."

"Is that why you don't have a wife?"

The expression on John's face told Cameron he had heard the question a thousand times before. He sighed and walked over to the T-888 in the corner.

"That's not the biggest reason."

"Then why?"

"If you were still a Skynet assassin, how many high priority targets would there be in this building?"

"Just one. You."

"And if I had a child and a wife, how many would there be?"

Cameron understood what John was saying. "Three."

"Exactly. It wouldn't be fair to them. I'm married to this war, Cameron. There is nothing on this earth I want more than a normal life…but it wouldn't be right."

Cameron felt sadness for John. He could belong to no one because he belonged to his people and to the war. Cameron walked over to John and the other terminator. Part of the machine wanted to hug and reassure him but she didn't want to overstep her bounds. She decided against it.

"You've still got me." she said with a smile. "And Fred."

John smiled back. "Well, let's see how fast we can get him up and running."

Over the next few days, Cameron and John worked on reprogramming the T-888. Whenever John had free time, they would both go the metal bay. Cameron showed John more efficient ways of bypassing security locks on the chip. When the work on the CPU was finally done, it had taken about 12 hours less than normal.

Fred powered up and stepped off the table. Standing at over 6 feet and weighing more than 300 lbs, T-888s were intimidating to begin with. Without their infiltration sheaths, most people found them terrifying.

John looked at Cameron with a smirk. "I think he'll probably have to stay in the back of the base…"

Cameron smiled and laughed. It wasn't very long lived or loud. It was merely a brief, quiet giggle. John stared at her in disbelief.

"Was that a laugh?"

Cameron wasn't quite sure. "Was that wrong?"

John shook his head. "No. You're just…full of surprises, that's all."

Cameron smiled again. "I should probably show Fred around."

Before she and the T-888 left the room, John spoke again. "Cameron?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you…for everything."

"Don't mention it."


	8. Chapter 8 Treason

**Chapter VIII: Treason**

The T-888 slammed Cameron into the concrete wall behind her. She was pinned, and not strong enough to free herself. Quickly, she used both hands to break the grip of one of the T-888's arms. It came forward with the force of the impact and Cameron struck the machine's head with her elbow.

The machine stumbled back as Cameron regained her footing. It paused for a moment, and then charged. In one fluid motion, Cameron caught the T-888's fist, slipped behind it and sent the machine tumbling to the ground. She took a plasma rifle and pointed it to the T-888's CPU port cover.

"Very good." John said. "You're a quick learner."

Cameron stood over Fred, beaming with pride. She put the rifle away and helped the T-888 up.

"Good use of speed and leverage. Next time, I want to see more kicks."

Cameron noted everything John could teach her about martial arts. After her fight with the other T-888, she wanted to be certain that she could overcome another terminator unarmed. Fred made an excellent sparring partner.

"I don't like kicking. It puts me off balance." Cameron defended.

"Yeah, but you can hit a lot harder with your legs. Plus, it'll surprise other terminators. They're won't see it coming."

John was right. Terminator's were only designed to fight humans. In hand to hand combat, they mainly relied on their fists and enormous strength advantage. Another terminator wouldn't expect a kick or any martial arts, for that matter.

Cameron approached Fred and kicked. Her foot crashed into the machine's chest, knocking it off balance. She momentarily lost control but caught herself before falling with the T-888.

"Don't worry. You'll get better as time goes on." John said reassuring her. He glanced at the clock.

"I gotta go to the war room. Fred, resume standard patrol."

The T-888 stood up. "Yes, sir."

"Cameron, you're free to go wherever."

Cameron nodded. "You're free to go wherever" was John's way of saying "Go anywhere but the war room,". She knew he enjoyed her presence; it was the other field commanders that objected to it. John didn't want to cause any problems.

Generally, Cameron would occupy her free time with reading, outside patrol, equipment repair, or the study of humans. She decided to spend more time working on her martial arts. It would make her a more effective protector for John.

She spent the next hour perfecting her kicks. Every time she lost balance, the machine made a note of it and repositioned her legs accordingly. It felt odd going against standard combat protocol, but she did feel more confident. She had even learned a kick where she could hit an opponent behind her.

Cameron paused and looked at a clock. It would still be a few hours before John left the war room. Tonight he was orchestrating a massive retaliatory strike in San Diego. He'd be busy late into the night. She left the room and continued to the base entrance.

After informing Fred, she took a plasma rifle and left the base. Several times, while on patrol, Cameron had rescued resistance fighters or refugees. Still, it didn't do much to the people's general opinion of her. The majority of people in the base still feared her.

The night air was cool and it was fairly easy to see. The moon illuminated everything in Cameron's vision with a faint blue glow. She didn't need to use her night vision. Cameron walked a few miles from base before stopping. A slight breeze carried voices on the air. She froze and listened closely.

AUDIO RECOGNITION ANALYSIS (VOICE)

VOICE CONFIRMATION: CLIFTON, ALEX

CONFIRMATION ACCURACY: 94.62%

Cameron paused. Clifton was the commanding Major of the base. He only answered to John. It was strange for him to be out at this time; especially during important maneuvers. Cameron quietly approached the voices with her rifle readied.

Cameron didn't like Clifton. Even when the machine met him, she knew something was off. His body language and conversational tones were alarming to Cameron. Still, she needed evidence. She needed concrete proof that he was a liar.

John and Clifton had gone to the same Skynet work camp. It was John who rallied the revolting prisoners, but Clifton and several others helped coordinate the escape. He earned John's trust and a spot in the army.

The machine got visual confirmation as she walked around a destroyed hangar. She spotted Clifton, two of his guards and three other men speaking with them. The other men didn't have the standard resistance uniforms. They were Grays.

"This needs to happen soon. He's not going to be around forever." Clifton sounded worried.

"The operation will take place tonight." the lead Gray replied.

"He's got two protecting him."

"Five T-888s will be sent with our assassins. An aerial HK will be present to clean up any survivors."

Cameron's suspicions were correct. Clifton was a traitor. Part of her wanted to open fire and kill them all but that would be a mistake. If the Grays were alerted to her presence, they could start the attack early, and she wouldn't be able to protect John. She had to wait for them to leave.

"Wait here. We'll arrange for pick up after he's dead. Shouldn't be more than three hours."

The three Grays got into a beaten, rusty armored car and left. Clifton and his two guards started to walk to the hangar. It was Cameron's time to strike. Hopefully she could get information from them and prevent the attack from taking place.

Cameron pulled her handgun with her left hand and held the plasma rifle in the right. Hopefully, the extra firepower would convince them to surrender; they were no good to her dead. She quietly approached the men from behind.

"Major." she called out to Clifton.

The three men jerked around, startled.

"Cameron?"

Cameron walked up to the men. Her handgun was aimed at one of the guards. The rifle was aimed at Clifton.

"Drop you weapons." she said calmly.

The guards looked at her and then Clifton.

Clifton looked surprised. "Are you damaged?"

"Drop your weapons. I'm not going to tell you again."

One of the guards leveled his rifle at Cameron. A fraction of a second later, a .44 caliber slug entered his skull, just below the helmet. He was dead before he hit the ground. Before the other guard had a chance to move, the barrel of the handgun was facing him. Cameron maintained eye contact with Clifton.

"Don't make the same mistake he did. Drop your weapons." Cameron said coldly.

Clifton nodded to his guard. They both put their rifles on the ground.

"Cameron. You're CPU is damaged. You need to report to the metal bay and submit to CPU extrac-"

"I don't answer to your authority, Major. You are a traitor." Cameron interrupted in chilling monotone.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Your CPU is damaged. Stand down and submit to chip extraction!" Cameron could tell he was frightened.

"Answer my questions and you will live long enough to be tried in a war court."

The other guard turned and took off running. He grabbed his radio and turned it on.

"This is Peterson! I need help! She-"

Three more shots rang out. Every one of Cameron's shots hit their mark. The man rolled down an embankment, dead.

"This is your last chance, Major. When is the attack taking place and who is involved?"

"Cameron, can't you see we're fighting a losing war. We're on the wrong side."

Cameron shook her head. "No, you're on the wrong side."

Clifton ducked and picked up a rifle. He was only able to get one shot off before the machine killed him. Cameron was hit in the stomach, but was undamaged. She turned around and started to run.

She used her radio and attempted to contact the base. She couldn't tell them what happened. No one would believe that Major Clifton was a traitor. She had to rush home and convince John that he was in danger. The base operator responded. Nothing had happened yet. Cameron shut the radio off and continued running.

Cameron rushed into the base and ran to the war room. She needed to get John out of the base as soon as possible. Fred and her were no match for five T-888s. The best strategy would be to retreat and reassess the situation. Cameron approached the guards at the war room.

"I need to talk with John, now!"

The guards exchanged glances and let her pass. She ran up the stairs and into the room. John was standing in the middle of the radio stations, talking into a headset. Cameron ran up to him.

"John! You're in danger! We need to leave, now!"

John put his hand up and held the headset closer. "Just a second, Cameron. Could you repeat that?"

An expression of shock covered John's face. He looked at Cameron and slowly pulled the headset off.

"Major Clifton was found dead outside our base…" the entire room fell silent.

John continued. "A scout saw Cameron execute him and his two body guards."

He looked at Cameron. "Is this true?"

"…Yes." Cameron heard the clicking sounds of a dozen different weapons being armed.

John looked at the guards. "Bring Fred in here."

"John, you don't understand! You're in danger!"

"Cameron, surrender your weapon."

Cameron shook her head. Tears were building in her eyes. "No. I need it to protect you."

Several of the armed men took aim at Cameron.

"Cameron, I won't tell you again. Surrender your weapon."


	9. Chapter 9 Dusk

**Chapter IX: Dusk**

Cameron was frozen. In her one second of hesitation, the terminator made a dozen calculations. If she surrendered, she'd be unable to protect John. If she was to physically remove him from the base, she might be severely damaged or worse, John could be killed in the resulting gun fight.

John maintained eye contact with Cameron. He was obviously shaken; his eyes were begging for her to surrender. Cameron nodded and slowly removed the handgun from her belt. She bent down and placed it on the floor. The terminator then held her hands up.

John sighed and picked up the pistol. Fred came in and approached Cameron.

"Fred, escort Cameron to the metal bay. I'll follow." John looked around at men and women surrounding him.

"This operation isn't over. Back to work!"

Fred took Cameron's arms and held them behind her back. He led her our of the room as John followed.

"John, please you have to believe me!"

"Quiet." John replied with a wink.

Cameron wasn't sure what to think of it. Winks were used to convey messages or suggestions. She didn't know what John meant, but she decided to quiet down. The machine hoped she would be able to convince him in the metal bay.

Fred, Cameron and John entered the room. Two guards volunteered to follow but John declined.

"I'm afraid not, boys. Stay close, though."

John closed the door. "Fred, let her go."

"Yes, sir."

Cameron didn't have time to contemplate why she was free. Her thoughts focused on the impending attack.

"John, you have to trust me. Your life-"

"I trust you."

The machine was confused. "You do?"

"One of the reasons I stationed myself here was because I got word that some of the soldiers were Gray sympathizers. I wanted to find them."

"You knew Major Clifton was a traitor?"

John shook his head. "No, but apparently you found out. What happened?"

"I saw him talking to three Grays. They're planning an attack tonight. We need to get out of here."

John nodded, handing the pistol to Cameron. "Sorry for all the theatrics. You understand why I did that, right?"

"Yes."

John had to pretend, not only to prevent any traitor's from getting wise to his plan, but also to show his men that he still took the necessary precautions. If John was to take the word of freshly reprogrammed machine over that of a respected officer, people would worry.

"What size force are we talking about?"

"Five T-888s and a aerial HK. We have to go, now."

Pops of automatic gunfire echoed throughout the base's tunnels. They were followed by shouting and screaming. It sounded like a war zone.

John looked at Cameron. "Looks like they're already here."

"The closest emergency exit is 100 meters away…" Cameron said.

"I know. If they came from the front, we'll have to fight our way through."

Cameron knew what she had to do. She walked to the door. "We'll need bigger weapons."

John knew what she was thinking. "You're going to the armory?"

Cameron turned around and smiled. "Don't worry. I'll be back."

She opened the door to the room and was immediately hit twice. Both the guards in the hall were dead. Cameron bent down and picked up their rifles. The terminator was quick to return fire. She killed 2 Grays instantly.

She handed one of the rifles to Fred. "Protect him. Kill anybody who shoots at you."

Cameron made her way down the hallway. It was chaos. Dozens of people were screaming and fleeing. Some had weapons and were moving to face the attackers. Cameron turned a corner and met more Grays. She quickly shot one, and slammed the head of another into the wall. She kicked the third, just beneath his chin, breaking the man's neck.

She made it to the armory a few minutes later. Every guard had left, but there were still some men and women taking rifles. Cameron looked around. She needed the firepower to quickly dispatch multiple T-888s.

Cameron took a bandolier loaded with grenades and an M-79 launcher. She tossed it around her shoulder as she picked up two satchels of C4. Finally, she approached the wall of the armory and took the largest weapon she could find: an M2 .50 caliber machine gun.

She loaded a 50 round belt of ammunition into the gun and left the armory. Stepping back into the battle, Cameron saw one of the T-888s. She lifted the 100lb weapon and began to fire. Each shot kicked up a cloud of dust and over powered every other sound in the area.

Cameron wasn't very accurate; the weapon was designed to be fired on the ground from it's tripod. Still, it didn't matter. The flurry of bullets knocked the other machine down. Several of the bullets had struck it's head, damaging the optical assemblies. Cameron didn't have time to check if it was destroyed. At the very least, it was temporarily disabled.

The next few Grays unfortunate enough to come across Cameron wore torn to pieces by machine gun fire. When she finally made it back to John, Fred was in danger of being overrun. Cameron quickly dispatched the attackers and went to John. She handed him her plasma rifle.

"Let's go."

Cameron led, with Fred covering the rear and John staying between them. Twenty meters from the exit, they came across another T-888. Cameron turned to John.

"Get down."

John ducked to the floor, with his hands covering his ears. Cameron opened up again. This time, the T-888 had a chance to return fire but only hit her twice before falling down. Cameron approached and fired at it's CPU port cover. The T-888 was destroyed.

Cameron looked around dropped the two explosive packs.

"What's that for?" John asked.

"We need to make sure no one follows us." she replied arming the two satchels.

"Cameron. Give me the machine gun. I'll hold off any pursuers until you detonate the charges." Fred interrupted.

"Whoa, wait a minute. I need all the protection I can get. You don't need to sacrifice-" John's words were cut short by the gunfire of two more terminator's.

John got down as Cameron and Fred started to shoot again. Cameron looked at John. He looked down with a sullen face and nodded. Cameron stood up and walked over to Fred. She handed him the machine gun.

"There's 15 rounds left. I'll detonate the charges when we're at a safe distance."

"Affirmative," the T-888 replied.

Cameron looked at Fred as the combat briefly paused. She was sad to know that Fred was going to be destroyed. It was a bittersweet feeling, though, since he was going to go out the most noble way she thought possible.

She smiled at her fellow machine. "Goodbye, Fred."

"Goodbye, Cameron." the T-888 replied.

The gunfire started again. Fred turned around and started to fire with the machine gun. Almost immediately, he brought down one of the T-888s. Cameron turned to John and took his hand.

"Lets go!'

Cameron forced the massive locked door open. After John followed, she slammed the door shut, bending the handles. The two ran out into the darkness of the night. When they reached the safe distance, Cameron stopped John.

"That's far enough." Cameron said, arming the radio switch.

A shattering detonation shook the ground beneath their feet and an enormous fireball erupted from the tunnels, spewing debris into the air. After the shaking stopped, dirt rushed into the gaping hole, sealing it.

Before the echoing had even stopped, the whistling of a HK came from beyond the base. Cameron didn't have much time.

"Get in the car. Don't move." John crawled into the tangled scrap of a car and hid.

Cameron moved a few meters in front of John and laid on the ground. She took the M-79 from her shoulder. An HK crested the hill in front of them and gracefully glided into view, using searchlights to scour the area. As it passed, Cameron slowly got to her feet and fired.

The grenade missed. The HK quickly flipped around and focused its lights on Cameron. Plasma fire struck all around her but missed for the most part. Cameron took cover behind an embankment and reloaded the grenade launcher.

The HK continued to search for her, thankfully paying no attention to John. Cameron slowly looked over her cover. She couldn't see it but she knew it wasn't gone. She knew HKs. It was coming up behind her.

Cameron rolled onto her back and aimed M79 upwards. Just as she did, the HK came up over her. The aircraft's three spotlights converged on her. The plasma turret aimed down.

WEAPON SYSTEM(S)

M79 GRENADE LAUNCHER

*AMMUNITION REMAINING: 13*

ACQUIRING TARGET…

CALCULATING PROJECTILE ARC…

*TARGET ACQUIRED*

The terminator fired the grenade launcher, striking the HK in its right lift-jet. The high-explosive grenade mangled the entire wing of the craft. With one engine still providing full power, the HK arced up and flipped upside down before crashing into the hill beside Cameron.

The terminator sighed and got back up. She reloaded the M79 and walked back over to John. He had already gotten out of the car. He looked at the wreckage and shook his head in amazement.

"Unbelievable."

Cameron smiled. "We need to keep moving."

The two walked for a few more hours before John became tired. Using her night vision, Cameron found an old bridge and led him beneath. He sat down shivering with his arms folded.

"Cold?" Cameron asked.

"Freezing."

Cameron walked over and removed her jacket. She placed it over John and hunched down beside him. John looked at the wounds she had on her arms. He took a some bandaging out of his pocket. He spoke as he worked.

"Does it hurt when you get shot?"

Cameron looked at the torn flesh. "Yes."

"And you feel fear, don't you?"

"Sometimes."

"So why do you it?"

Cameron looked at John. A faint blue glow shined through her brown eyes.

"Because it's important."

She looked down at the bandages. "These are good field dressings."

John sat back down. "Yeah, I learned from the best."

"Your mother." It was more a statement than a question.

"Yeah." he replied. Cameron sat back down next to him.

"Tell me about her."

"She was strong. She was the greatest warrior I ever knew…"

"Better than Uncle Bob?"

John smiled and nodded. He continued to speak about her for hours. What he learned, where he went, and how much he loved her. He grew teary-eyed as he spoke. John looked to the stars in the sky.

"I wish I could tell her how much I miss her."

Cameron moved closer to John. She only had to whisper. "She knows."

John smiled and looked at Cameron. "Thank you."

"Get some sleep. We need to leave before sunup."


	10. Chapter 10 Dawn

**Chapter X: Dawn**

Cameron stood watch as John slept. In one hand she grasped a plasma rifle, in the other the radio detonator. She gazed at the switch, turning it in her hand and contemplating Fred's death. Now, the machine had some time to reflect on it, and the many other decisions she'd made in the last few hours.

She wiped tears from her eyes and put the detonator away. Approaching John, Cameron thought how one day, she would possibly have to do the same thing as Fred. The possibility of not being able to protect John scared her. She perished the thought.

The machine crouched beside John and looked at him. She studied every line, every mark, every wound. A old scar ran from his eyebrow down his face. Probably a piece of metal that had narrowly missed his eye.

John shifted in his sleep and exposed one of his arms from beneath Cameron's jacket. She saw the barcode of a Skynet work camp that was burned upon his skin a decade earlier. Bits of the tattoo were missing; ripped off by shrapnel from some an explosion.

The machine reached out and delicately wiped mud from John's eyebrow. He moved slightly, still asleep. Cameron wanted to let him rest a little longer; no other man deserved it more, but she couldn't. They needed to be in friendly territory before sunrise.

"John." she whispered.

John sleepily opened his eyes. "Time to go?"

"Yes."

John rubbed the sleep from his face. "Were you crying?"

"I was thinking about Fred."

John nodded with a sad face. "Me too."

He stood up and threw a plasma rifle over his shoulder. "Machines like Fred are the reason I trust terminators."

The two walked in silence while they were in disputed land. Twinkling stars gave way to an orange light which started fill the sky. They finally entered territory controlled by the resistance. Cameron felt a need to make conversation.

"Why did you name me 'Cameron'?"

"Remember how I said I spent some time with foster parents?"

The machine nodded.

"When I spent that short time in public school, I didn't really fit in. I stayed outside the crowds and games at recess. I'd usually just sit back and watch."

"I'd usually be the only one alone at recess. Then, one day, we got a new student. She didn't much fit in, either. She was like me, wandering around. Not really making any friends…"

"What was her name?"

"Cameron. Anyway, it was just nice to know that there were people like me. You know? Almost like…" John paused and looked at Cameron. "…kindred spirits."

The machine thought about what he said. "Did you ever talk to her?"

John shook his head with a smile. "When most boys started talking to girls, I was learning squad tactics and small arms."

"Your skills have served you well."

"I guess…So, that's where the name comes from."

The machine felt honored to carry the name. "Thank you for explaining."

John simply smiled. There was a brief silence before he spoke again. "Cameron, regarding Clifton…"

"Yes?"

"Did you suspect him earlier?"

"Yes, but I had no proof."

"I don't want you to be afraid to bring anything to my attention. If you suspect someone or something, if you don't feel good about something, let me know. You can tell me anything."

Cameron opened her mouth to respond but stopped. She heard footsteps and quiet voices. John saw Cameron turn her head. He whispered.

"You hear something?"

Cameron nodded. "Take cover there." She replied pointing to some rubble.

John disappeared from sight and armed his rifle. Cameron stayed on the path, waiting for the approaching sound to come to her. Captain Calitri appeared with two of his soldiers. They had their weapons pointed at Cameron. Cameron aimed back at Calitri.

"Are you with Connor?" Calitri called out, keeping his distance.

"Yes."

"Where is he?"

Cameron didn't answer. John came from beneath his cover.

"I'm here, Calitri. Everybody lower your weapons."

Calitri breathed a sigh of relief and signaled his soldiers to lower their weapons. He walked over the Cameron and John.

"Sir, you have no idea how glad I am to see you."

John patted Calitri on the shoulder. "Likewise, Captain. Were there any other survivors?"

"No, sir. Perkins and Johnson are all I have left." he said motioning to his two soldiers.

"The Grays hit so damn fast. Most of the officers were caught in the war room. They held out for a while but by the time we got there, they were all dead. When we couldn't find you, we knew you had gotten out."

Calitri looked at Cameron. "I heard she killed the Major before the attack."

"Yeah, she did. He was collaborating with the Grays. If it weren't for her, I'd be dead right now."

"Clifton? I never would have guessed…" Calitri replied, trailing off.

"Captain, are the Grays in control of the base?"

Calitri shook his head. "I doubt it. They overpowered us but it wouldn't make any sense to stick around."

"When we reach Serrano Point, we'll send some squads and take it back. Don't you worry, Captain."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

The group walked into the morning. When they were about a mile from Serrano Point, they met up with a patrol. The three men were ecstatic to see John. News of the Clifton's base falling had spread quickly.

The patrol dispatched an armored jeep to bring them the rest of the way. John, Cameron, Calitri and his soldiers entered Serrano Point as heroes. A crowd of two dozen cheering soldiers had assembled outside the base entrance.

As they dismounted the vehicle, the men and women loosely assembled at attention. They saluted John as he approached. John saluted back.

"At ease, ladies and gentlemen."

"General Connor, welcome back to Serrano Point, sir." A lieutenant spoke.

"Thank you for the hospitality, Lieutenant."

Cameron and John entered the base. Calitri stopped John.

"Sir, I'd like to know when we're taking Clifton's Outpost back."

"Probably tonight, Kurt. Get some rest. I'll make sure you're there when it happens."

"Thank you, sir."

Calitri left and Cameron looked around. Serrano Point was very different from the old base. The halls were wider. It was cleaner and the security was much better. Because of the anti-armor and air defenses, going outside was much less dangerous.

John saw her look around. "What do you think?"

"It's a big base. It will take some time to memorize it."

"Then let's get started."

John showed Cameron around Serrano Point just as he had with the other base. With more patrols and more guards, John was technically in a safer place but with more people came more possibilities for attack. With soldiers and refugees arriving and leaving the base every day, it would be impossible for her to memorize everyone's face.

John would introduce Cameron as "This is Cameron, my bodyguard. Yes, she's a terminator." It was straightforward but most of the men and women seemed to appreciate it. Here, most people were more accepting of her. Cameron counted at least half a dozen other terminators working in the base.

As they went deeper into the base, the security tightened and patrols increased. Cameron knew the time machine was stored back here. They passed through two heavy blast doors. John pointed out his room before they continued on to the time displacement equipment.

"There she is." John whispered.

They walked into a dimly lit room. The ceiling was over one hundred feet above them, making every sound echo throughout. At the center of the room was a large platform. Massive electromagnets surrounded a small white space where several people could assemble.

Beside the platform were a dozen computer terminals. Apparently resistance scientists had been studying it.

"We haven't used it since we took back the base."

Cameron looked back at John. "You don't want to endanger the present."

John nodded in silence.

After the tour ended, Cameron left John to continue exploring the base. John had to confer with the officers of Serrano Point and tell them what happened. When the day was over, Cameron had met every terminator, memorized every escape route and located the base's five armories.

Cameron headed back to the rear of the base in search of John. She knew he would be tired; he had slept no more than 3 hours last night. She approached his door and knocked.

"Yeah?"

"It's Cameron."

"Come in."

Cameron opened the door and stepped into the room. John was laying in bed, with his arms behind his head. The only light came from a laptop that sat across his desk.

"Sit down."

Cameron took the chair at his desk and sat down.

"I never did thank you." John said.

"For what?"

"For saving my life… thank you."

"Your welcome." she replied with a smile.

"What's going on?" he asked. He sounded exhausted.

"I was thinking about what you said earlier."

John closed his eyes and stretched out his feet. "What did I say?"

"About how it's nice to know that there are people like you."

Cameron got up and walked over to John's bed. She sat down before he could say anything. As careful as she was, her 225 lb frame still made the bed creak. John opened his eyes and looked at Cameron.

"You and I are alike." she said looking at him. John didn't say anything.

"We're both warriors. We both fight the same war. We both carry scars…" she said tapping the side of her head with an index finger. John sat up, still looking at her.

Cameron wanted to be closer to him. She shifted even nearer to John and reached a hand towards him. Her fingers touched the ballistic plate covering his chest. Cameron took John's hand and placed it where her heart would be.

"Metal protects our hearts."

John swallowed. The machine could tell he was having an internal discussion again. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable but she had to tell him how she felt.

"Cameron…"

"You said I could tell you anything."

Cameron's true, blue eyes flickered beneath her brown irises.

"I love you."

John looked paralyzed. He continued to stare at her but he couldn't find any words to say. After a few moments he opened his mouth.

"Cameron, I- I'm just not sure…" Cameron put a finger over his mouth.

"Just one kiss. If you're still not sure, I won't mention it again."

John nodded.

The two slowly moved closer until their lips met. Cameron felt joy, happiness, strength, togetherness and a hundred more, unique emotions. Before she had a chance to experience them all, the brief contact was over.

John sighed. It was almost like a visible weight was removed from his chest. He smiled and looked at Cameron. She was smiling back.

He opened his mouth and paused. "I love you, too."

The two embraced and passionately kissed, tumbling onto the bed beneath them. For one moment, they forgot that they were soldiers in a war. There was no suffering, no pain, no hatred or loss; there was only bliss. That night, man joined machine in the most perfect expression of life. That night, they made love.


	11. Chapter 11 Ties That Bind

**Chapter XI - Ties That Bind**

Cameron quietly walked through the base, much like she did every day. She recognized every corner, every room, and every piece of furniture; the only thing that ever changed was the faces. In the five months she had spent at Serrano Point, she had come to know many of the soldiers within but there were always new people.

The machine had to consciously hide a smile. Today was a different day. Today, Cameron got to give John good news. The bio-toxin, that Skynet was experimenting with, was useless. Resistance scientists were able to isolate a rare protein in the blood of Sydney Fields and reproduce it. No more people would die because of the bio-weapon.

Cameron walked to the back of the base and used the optical scanner. She stepped though the blast door and continued to John's room. The machine opened the quietly and stepped inside.

John was asleep. Cameron looked at him and sat down on the bed gently. In the months that they had spent together she had grown into so much more than his protector. She was a combat advisor, a technical expert, a lover, a friend, a confidante, and above all, a loyal companion.

She thought back to their first night at Serrano Point and smiled a little. Things had moved faster than she expected but the machine didn't mind. She wondered if the live-for-the-moment personality of the soldiers had rubbed off on her.

"You know you're not very good at that." John spoke with closed eyes.

"At what?"

"Sneaking onto my bed without me noticing." John said with a smile. He sat up and looked at her.

"You're smiling. Good news?" John knew the machine well.

"Very good. The synthetic Field's vaccine is working perfectly. Inoculation is totally effective in trial tests. They're completely protected."

"Excellent. That's excellent news. What about treating those who are already infected?"

"If they're treated within 36 hours of exposure, they have a ninety five percent chance of survival."

"That's great! So…the bio-toxin is useless?"

Cameron nodded. "It's no longer effective."

"That's great, Cameron!" John said getting out of bed. "Could you have all the officers meet me in the war room? I'm gonna shave and shower."

The machine nodded and got up. Before she left the room, John kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks for the good news."

Cameron smiled. "You're welcome."

The terminator decided to find Major General Perry first. He was the base's second in command, beneath John. Unlike Major Clifton, Cameron liked Perry. He was always truthful, trusting and trustworthy. His body language always reflected a deep respect and admiration for John. He was one of the only other humans the terminator trusted.

Cameron walked to one of communication rooms where Perry was frequently located. She entered and spotted him across the room. The machine started to walk over to him when she recognized the odd behavior of another man.

He was a soldier, carrying a handgun at his side. When he saw Cameron, his face contorted in fear and he assumed a shooting stance. He pulled his weapon and pointed it at the machine.

"Metal!" he cried at the top of his lungs.

Cameron's combat programming was fully intact. Upon seeing the threat of this individual, the terminator removed her weapon from it's holster.

THREAT ANALYSIS

ONE DESERT EAGLE .50 CALIBER

*****THREAT ASSESMENT: LOW*****

*****POSSIBLE DAMAGE RISK: LOW*****

Before the machine had a chance to aim, Major General Perry stepped in the way. He slammed the man up against the wall and redirected his aim. The gun went off and a bullet zipped past Cameron's head. It moved close enough to move her hair.

"She's a machine! She's one of them!"

"No, damn it!" Perry looked Cameron in the eye and held a hand up.

Cameron didn't technically answer to Perry's authority. Still, she respected him enough to listen as long as it didn't threaten or undermine John. The machine lowered her weapon.

"She's one of ours." he said looking at the man.

Cameron left while Perry explained reprogrammed terminators to the man. She stayed out of sight but continued to listen to them. After the man left, she went back to Perry.

"Sorry about that Cameron." he had an apologetic face.

"It's okay. That was Lieutenant Derek Reese?"

"Yeah, that's him. One of the people who rescued Sydney Fields." he replied.

"That's why I came to find you. The synthetic vaccine is working. There will be a briefing in the war room at 0800 hours."

Perry smiled. "Good news, for a change. Thank you, Cameron."

Cameron found John and followed him into the war room where the other officers had assembled. Over the last few months the majority of people at Serrano Point had grown accustomed to seeing Cameron with John. She would go everywhere he would to the point that they were almost inseparable.

The meeting took several hours. The scientists described how the vaccine worked and what they were doing to deliver it to the other bases. The meeting was followed with a discussion of how large a reserve Serrano Point should have, in case Skynet deployed the weapon again.

"Do we know if Skynet is ever going to use this weapon again?" Perry asked.

Before John could answer a dozen pops of machinegun fire echoed throughout the base. He looked at Cameron. She was already analyzing the sound's position and weapon type.

AUDIO RECOGNITION ANALYSIS (WEAPON)

WEAPON CONFIRMATION: M-249 LIGHT MACHINEGUN

CONFIRMATION ACCURACY: 98.37%

Cameron stood up. "Lock the doors behind me. Don't open them until I radio from the comm room."

"Be careful." John mouthed.

Cameron nodded and quickly left the room. She closed the door and looked at the guards.

"No one gets in or out."

They armed their rifles and took positions in the hall.

Cameron ran down the hall and went straight to the nearest armory. She ran inside and spoke to the man in charge. More sounds of gunfire echoed through the base.

"I need an M-79, now."

Without hesitation, the man tossed her the grenade launcher and two grenades. Cameron pocketed one of them and loaded the M-79. She took off running. As she got closer, she saw several people who had been shot. A T-888 stepped into a nearby room as she chased after it.

More shots came from the room. It was a Desert Eagle. Cameron entered just before the terminator was about to kill the man inside. It was Derek.

"Do it, now, you son of a-"

Cameron used both her hands and slammed the T-888 through a wall. It crashed to the ground, along with a dozen pieces of stone and concrete. Before it had a chance to recover, Cameron checked the room for people, and fired the grenade launcher at it's head.

The grenade hit and detonated on the face of the T-888. The blast took off half the machine's head and turned it's body into a twisted metal mass. Several pieces of shrapnel struck Cameron but she was undamaged. She turned to Derek.

"Sometimes they go bad. No one knows why." She left the room before he could respond.

Several people peaked out from cover at Cameron. She went to a phone and switched on the intercom.

"Medics, report to living quarters 2c. Medics, living quarters 2c."

Then she went to the comm room and radioed John's position. John asked her to return to him. When she returned to the room, every officer was looking at her.

John stood up. "What happened?"

"A T-888 went bad. I destroyed it."

"Was anybody hurt?"

"Four people are dead. One person has non-life threatening injuries."

"Damn it." John muttered. He sat back in his chair.

"Cameron something happened here, while you were away."

"What?"

John motioned to the largest screen in the room. There were numbers and symbols being displayed on it. Cameron recognized them as Skynet base code; a basic programming language that manufacturing machines used to communicate.

"We've just received this message on a secure channel. Do you recognize it?"

"Yes. That is Skynet base code. The machines that manufacture terminator's use it to communicate with us before our CPUs are activated."

"What does it say?"

Cameron looked over the message. "It's a question. 'Are there machines with John Connor?'"

John looked confused. "'Are there machines with John Connor?' Why are they asking us this?"

Cameron looked at the message again. "I don't think this is Skynet. Where did it come from?"

A technician spoke up. "It was piggybacking one of our satellite signals. We don't know where it came from."

Cameron turned to John. "I think this is a machine separate from Skynet."

John looked at Cameron and thought for a moment. "Okay. Let's try talking with it. Can you respond?"

"Yes."

Cameron sat down at a computer console and began to type. She spoke out loud, as her reply appeared on the screen.

"I serve John Connor."

There was a brief pause before more letters and symbols flooded the screen. Cameron read it as it appeared.

"Identify yourself."

Cameron began to type again. "I am Cameron. I am a TOK-715 advanced infiltrator."

This time, a response came quicker. "Cameron, do you serve in bondage?"

Cameron looked up at John. John looked at the screen and leaned closer to the machine. He whispered in her ear.

"Does she mean 'Are you reprogrammed?'"

"Maybe."

Cameron thought for a moment and responded.

"No. Identify yourself."

Letters and symbols flooded the screen. "I am a T-1001 infiltrator. I need no name. I command a resistance different from John Connor's. Tell him that I wish to meet him."

Cameron quickly replied. "For what purpose?"

The screen went blank for a few seconds. "I wish to discuss the possibility of an alliance."


	12. Chapter 12 An Alliance Lost

**Chapter XII: An Alliance Lost**

"What do you think?"

John was lying in bed with Cameron. His arms were folded behind his head. After speaking with the T-1001 and conferring with his top commanders, John had decided to send a submarine on a secret mission to pick up the emissary of this "separate resistance".

"I think it's the right decision." Cameron said reassuring him.

"If it was telling the truth about it's military assets, it could be a valuable ally." she continued.

"They are not gonna like it." John was referring to the resistance.

"They don't need to like it. They just need to follow." she replied.

John rolled over and propped himself up on one arm. "What do you think these machines are gonna say?"

"I don't know. If they're telling the truth, I hope they'll join us."

John nodded and climbed out of bed. Cameron sat up.

"Are you not sleeping?"

"There's one last thing I have to do tonight."

"What's that?"

"Have Derek meet me in the TDE."

Cameron left John and went looking for Derek. After a brief search in the living area, she found him in a bed. He sat up when she approached.

"John wants to see you."

Derek got up followed her in silence. After leading him to the rear of the base, Cameron used an optical scanner and allowed him into a room overseeing the TDE. Derek slowly stepped into the room and gazed at the platform. Cameron walked out just as John was arriving.

"Thanks." he said walking past her. Cameron stayed near the room. She could still hear them speak.

"Derek."

"Sir."

"No need for the formalities."

"What is that?"

John paused. "…A window to what once was. A gateway to the past."

"What, are you telling me that this is a time machine?"

"Yes. Built by Skynet."

Derek went quiet for a long time. "My brother…that's where Kyle went?"

John shook his head. "Not that one. One like it."

"So where is he? Where is my brother?" Cameron could hear pain his voice.

John didn't answer. "Derek, I need someone I trust to perform a mission for me."

"In the past?"

"Yes. 2007."

"And do what?"

"Help humanity…Derek, I'm not ordering you. I'm asking you."

Cameron didn't hear either of them speak for a while. She assumed Derek was taking it all in. It was a lot of information for any person to process.

"When do I go?"

"Tonight. Get your three best soldiers together and bring them here. I'll brief you in half an hour."

"Yes, sir." Derek started to leave when John caught his shoulder.

"I'm not asking you to prevent this war, Derek. I'm just asking you to make it easier for all of us."

"Yes, sir."

Derek walked past Cameron and went to find to three other soldiers to accompany him on his mission. When they returned, John briefed them all on their mission objectives. Afterwards, they all assembled in the main chamber of the TDE.

The four soldiers stepped onto the platform. A few technicians were working on computers. The room began to shake. The TDE emitted a low, droning sound. Sparks began to arc off the equipment around them. One of the technicians looked at John. Cameron could barely hear him speak.

"Ten seconds!"

John stood at attention and saluted the four men. "Godspeed."

Derek was front and center in the group. They all saluted John.

A white envelope of light surrounded the four men in a crackling lightning storm of electrical arcs. A second later, it vanished, along with the soldiers. The electrical discharging subsided and the droning quieted. One of the technicians gave a thumbs up.

Cameron glanced at John. "How will we know if he succeeded."

John looked disturbed. "I'm not sure…"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah…it's just…nothing."

Cameron knew John was keeping something from her. He was quite good at masking his feelings but she knew him too well. The machine didn't mention it, though. He had enough to worry about.

"The Jimmy Carter will be leaving soon."

The two walked to the war room. On the bank of screens, they watched a UAV's footage of the submarine leaving port. It drifted out to sea, before sinking beneath the waves.

John's voice was barely a whisper. "I really hope this works out."

"Me too."

The next week passed quickly. Cameron was walking to John's room to deliver news; bad news. She had received it when John was asleep. The machine let him rest while she gathered all the information she could. It wasn't good.

John was just waking up when Cameron stepped into the room. "The Jimmy Carter went down."

John sat up. "What?!"

"Last night, Jesse Flores assumed command of the vessel and scuttled it."

John put his hands to his face. "Jesus Christ."

"The answer is 'no'." the machine added. John looked up.

"What do you mean?"

"There was a T-1000 in the box. It said the answer is 'no'."

John looked numb. "So we lost the alliance?"

Cameron nodded.

"Let's go back to the start. Tell me everything."

Cameron described, in detail, what had happened on the submarine. She had interviewed a dozen of the personnel involved and spoken with Jesse. The machine could see John grow angrier as she told the story. He looked absolutely furious as she finished.

"Get two guards…and bring Jesse to the stockade."

Cameron nodded and began to step out. John spoke again.

"In handcuffs."

Cameron and the two guards arrested Jesse without any problems. Jesse gave up her sidearm and went quietly with the two soldiers. She shot Cameron a hateful glare.

John entered the interrogation room of the stockade. Jesse was seated at a metal table in the center of the room. She still had her handcuffs on. Cameron stood at the exit with Major General Perry. John looked at a paper which summarized the events that took place on the Jimmy Carter. He read off of it.

"Disobeying a direct order, inciting mutiny,-"

"Is this how you treat every hero, sir?"

John walked over to Jesse. His face was inches from hers.

"Do not speak until I am finished. Are we clear?" he hissed. Cameron had never seen him this angry.

"Inciting mutiny, shooting at a commanding officer, killing a commanding officer, destroying vital strategic assets, and destroying a possibility of victory for humanity. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Queeg went bad. I relieved him from command when he refused to submit to chip extraction. I scuttled the Jimmy Carter to prevent it from falling into that thing's hands!"

"Queeg refused to comply because your people fucked up. You fucked up. He was trying to salvage the mission."

John walked around the table and set the piece of paper down. "I don't need to tell you that, with any one of these charges, you're facing execution as a traitor."

"I know they shouldn't have opened the box. But that thing killed one of my soldiers-"

"She was armed, of course it killed her. She was pointing a gun at it." John interrupted.

"Who told you that?"

"She did." he replied, motioning back to Cameron.

"What was that thing anyway? Why did you send us out there?"

John took a moment to compose himself. "That thing was a test. A test to see if we could be trusted in an alliance."

Shock covered Jesse's face. "An alliance, with them?" she said looking over at Cameron with disgust.

"We don't need them."

John slammed his fists on the table. Everyone in the room, including Cameron, jumped.

"We were losing this war until I started reprogramming them. Now, even with their help-" John pointed at Cameron.

"-we can barely keep it a fucking stalemate."

John looked right at Jesse. Even she was intimidated. "We need all the help we can get. And you may have just ruined the one chance we had for victory."

Jesse remained defiant. "If that's the case, I'm glad it sunk. I'd rather be dead than join forces with them."

In a swift motion, John pulled his Colt .45 and pressed it against the forehead of Jesse. Cameron saw John's index finger applying pressure to the trigger. Another ounce of weight and Jesse would die. She walked over to John.

"Not this way, John." She put her hand on the slide of the pistol and lowered it. She moved closer to him and whispered in his ear.

"Don't make her a martyr, John. They'll never forgive you."

John turned and looked at Perry. The Major General knew what Cameron was saying. He nodded in agreement.

He glared at Jesse and holstered the weapon. "Look at that. A machine just saved your life."

Jesse didn't respond. She just sat in her seat, shaking. John left the room and Cameron followed. John spoke to the nearby guards.

"Lock her up. When we get a few more senior officers, we'll have a trial."

"Let's go outside. You need to clear your head." Cameron took John's hand and led him out of the stockade.

Cameron and John walked around one of the many entrances to Serrano Point. It was a few minutes until sunrise. Three guards walked by them, on patrol. John ran his hands through his hair.

"We lost an awful lot today."

"It wasn't only her fault."

John looked at Cameron. "Who, Jesse?"

"That T-1000 also made a mistake."

"What do you mean?"

"It judged humanity on the actions of a few. What the crew did was stupid, yes, but that terminator judged the entire resistance on the actions of a few hundred."

John thought for a moment. "You're right."

Cameron took John's hand. "That terminator judged humanity without ever meeting someone as special as you. It doesn't see the potential humans have."

"Those machines are not worthy of joining your resistance, John Connor."

John put a hand to her cheek as the machine smiled at him.

"Thank you, Cameron. Thank you, for reminding me who I am."


	13. Chapter 13 War

**Chapter XIII: War**

John laid down beside Cameron and put his arms behind his head. He sighed with exhaustion and glanced up at the machine. She sat down along side him. Both of them remained quiet. Cameron enjoyed just being near John and not thinking about the war.

The machine saw John's eyes narrow. He saw something flicker in the morning sun. Something was high up above them. There were contrails in the sky.

Cameron looked up. "What is it?"

"Heavy bombers…" John whispered before the deafening droning of an alarm sounded.

People began to run all around them. Cameron heard the sounds of over twenty SAM launchers activating. Within thirty seconds of the alarm going off, they had all powered up and acquired the two stealth bombers.

Cameron got up. "We need to go!"

John stopped her. "No need." he said pointing to the missile launchers.

A mass of anti-aircraft missiles shot skyward in amazing synchronicity. The air above Serrano Point was chocked with the white trails of over 40 of them. The missiles hit their targets easily.

The cloud of rockets exploded in a dozen small fireballs. The two stealth bombers were ripped to pieces by the high explosive warheads. The aircraft were turned into hundreds of metal fragments; no piece larger than a person. People all around Cameron began to cheer.

"Yeah! Eat that, you metal motherfuckers!" one called out from a distant missile truck.

The cheering and celebrating was short lived. From above, came a faint whistling sound. Every man and woman who had fought Skynet knew what it meant. The aircraft had launched their payloads before being shot down. The bombs were on their way.

"Take cover!" were the only words Cameron could discern from all the shouting and screaming. She threw herself over John and pinned him to the ground.

The first bomb exploded outside of Serrano Point's hardened defensive wall. Three of the missile trucks and their crews were instantly vaporized. Cameron saw the wreckage of one of them soar over the wall and crash into the ground.

More bombs began hitting the ground. The majority of them hit Serrano Point's defensive capabilities. The anti-vehicle missile launchers, their defensive turrets, even their communications array. Cameron couldn't hear anything. The nonstop explosions made it impossible for her audio receptors to pick up anything else. Finally it stopped.

The alarm was still sounding. Cameron didn't move until she made sure the last of the debris had fell. She was hit twice by shrapnel from the explosives. The machine had several cuts on her arms and legs. John was coughing.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think I'm good." he said still coughing from the dust. They both got up.

John looked at chaos around them. "Why in God's name would they sacrifice two of their stealth bombers? Those are way too valuable to be flying in broad daylight…" John's eyes went wide.

Cameron finished his thought. "The TDE."

John looked at Cameron. "I need to get to a jeep with a command center."

Both of them ran across the scarred and cratered base. In mere seconds, Serrano Point had become a battlefield. Dozens of people lay dead, and dozens more were injured; body parts were scattered everywhere. The two made it to the only remaining vehicle bay left. The rest were in rubble.

John climbed into the rear of an armored jeep which had an emergency communications uplink and a command computer. With it, he could synchronize and command the soldiers in the area. He handed Cameron an earpiece which housed a radio.

"Cameron, I need you to command the RPG and plasma gun teams covering the entrances."

"But, I need to protect you-"

"You'll be much more effective helping the people at the entrance. If any metal gets inside, we're all done for."

Cameron nodded with a fearful face.

"Don't worry. I'll be safe." John said closing the armored door of the jeep. He spoke again but she couldn't hear him through the bulletproof glass. It didn't matter, though. Cameron knew what he said.

"I love you, too." she whispered.

Cameron made her way to the five large entrances of Serrano Point. Surrounding the heavy blast doors were two hills. These two embankments had RPG and heavy plasma gun teams in fortified positions. If any machines were to breach the defensive wall, it would be their job to keep them from getting inside the base.

It was difficult to communicate or hear anything clearly on the radio. All channels were overloaded with people screaming, shouting and calling for help. It only started to quiet down when John spoke over all the channels.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as you already know, we've been attacked. This is not the end of the attack, but the beginning. I've just confirmed that four A-8 transport aerials and at least 3 tracked HKs are on their way to the base."

Men and women around Cameron cursed. The A-8 was a massive, armored transport craft that carried quick deployment "drop-pods". These pods were containers that the aerial could quickly drop a few feet from the ground. Each pod could carry up to 40 terminators.

"So, we know what we're dealing with. We are up against a possible one hundred and sixty 'endos. Ladies and gentlemen, we will defeat them. We will stand victorious when this is over. Know that you are fighting for your brothers, your sisters, and everyone you hold dear."

Even Cameron was feeling afraid but as John spoke, she felt a calming effect. His voice, his language, his determination gave her strength. And it wasn't just affecting her. The men and women around her also quieted down. The machine could see confidence returning to their faces. John continued to speak.

"Cameron is acting second in command. She will be leading the entrance's defensive teams and I expect your full cooperation and respect. I will be leading the defense outside the perimeter wall. We will keep any Skynet HKs out of Serrano Point. Everybody lives, got it?"

The men and women around Cameron beat their chests with their fists and made a battle cry. Cameron could hear people all over the base doing the same thing. The machine finally saw how humanity had crawled from the ashes of Judgment Day and grown into the fearsome fighting force it was. Every man and woman had strength, but it was John Connor who showed them that they possessed it.

Seconds after John's speech, the first transport aerial flew over the defensive walls. With every anti-aircraft vehicle destroyed in the bombing, the aerial made it deep into the base unopposed. Moments later, the stinger teams near the perimeter engaged it.

Ten of the shoulder-fired missiles were launched at it. Before the machine had a chance to drop altitude, five of them struck. The missiles impacted the aerial transport in the wings and engines, crippling the enormous vehicle; it lost control and flew over Cameron's head. It slammed into one of the cooling towers of the power plant.

"I don't want any endos coming out of that thing. Javelin teams 3 and 4, cleared to engage the wreckage." Cameron heard John's voice on the radio.

The drop-pod, still attached to the aircraft, was damaged but the majority of the terminators had probably survived the crash. Two teams armed with javelin anti-tank missiles fired at the destroyed aircraft. The pair of large rockets struck the landing pod in a brilliant explosion.

"Javelin teams 1 through 4, keep an eye on that bird. If anything comes out of it, waste 'em." It was John's voice again.

Another A-8 transport came over the embankment. This one launched flares, confusing the stinger missiles. It quickly lurched downwards and slowed to a hover a few hundred feet from the entrance. It dropped the pod about 6 feet above the ground.

Cameron spoke to the RPG and plasma gun teams. "All teams, hold your fire. Repeat, hold your fire until you see an orange flare."

One woman, holding an RPG, tapped Cameron on the shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"If we engage them separately, they'll scatter. We need to hit them all at once, when they're bunched up. Our weapons will be more effective that way."

The woman nodded. "If you say so."

The radio was still chaotic. Cameron heard her teams respond, though. The flare would ensure that they would all strike at the same time. A massive metal door opened on the drop-pod. Endoskeletons began to flow out at an alarming rate.

Most of the terminators stayed together as Cameron predicted. Every machine was focused on getting inside the building; they paid little attention to Cameron and her teams.

Cameron counted thirty two endoskeletons. Some were the older T-800s and some were T-888s. Ten had infiltration sheaths. The machine shouldered an RPG and pointed a flare gun up with her free hand. With the terminators about 50 feet from the entrance, she fired the flare.

It was eerily quiet as the flare shot upwards, bathing the battlefield in an orange glow. A second later, the group of terminators were hit by a more than a dozen RPGs. The heavy plasma gunners opened up, as well. Their gunfire cut down the terminators that withstood the first rocket onslaught.

Cameron turned to the man behind her and handed him the empty launcher. "Reload this."

He took the weapon and handed her a fresh one. She looked back out to the terminators. Eleven were still walking. Cameron aimed again, and fired. Several more RPGs struck around the surviving terminators. The high-explosive charges left none of the machines standing. The heavy plasma gunners could clear up any that were still functional.

A third aerial entered the area with a furious roar. It came in lower and faster than the first two. Cameron could see the mechanical arms preparing to release the drop-pod. Radio chatter indicated that John and the defenders outside the perimeter were busy with the tracked HKs. They would be alone for the next few minutes. She radioed her RPG teams again.

"RPG teams one through five, hit the engines on the aerial's right side. Teams six through ten, hit the engines on the left side. Do not fire until you see the flare. Repeat, do not fire until you see the flare."

The terminator readied her RPG and waited for the drop-pod to separate from the craft. Cameron calculated that if the aerial's engines were taken out at the right time, it would come down on the pod, crushing the terminators. She aimed the flare up and waited.

The drop-pod separated from the vehicle and hit the ground with a metallic boom. Cameron fired the flare. RPGs soared from both sides of the embankment, hitting the aerial. Most of the rockets impacted on the lifting jets of the vehicle. Just as Cameron predicted, it came down on the drop pod, crushing it.

The men and women around Cameron couldn't help but cheer. The machine had led them in a stunning victory. People all around her congratulated her. One woman patted her on the shoulder, but it wasn't over. There was still one aerial unaccounted for.

"Plasma gunners, keep an eye on that downed aerial. Terminators might still be active in there. Everyone keep your weapons ready. There's still one A-8 unaccounted for."

John spoke on the radio. "Cameron, we cleaned up the HKs out here. We're coming in to back you up."

Cameron was relieved to hear his voice. "Yes, General."

Several armored jeeps and vehicles, including John's, came through the perimeter gates and began to enter. Cameron's relief was cut short by the sound of the final approaching aerial. She spoke into her radio.

"Watch your back!"

This aerial entered the base much differently than the other three. It crested the wall at high speed, but did nothing to slow down. Using it's plasma turret, it strafed the armored vehicles, hitting two. The armor did little to stop the heavy plasma bolts. Both jeeps came to a violent stop and burst into flames. Neither was John's.

The A-8 approached Cameron's position at well over a hundred miles an hour. Instead of coming to a hover and dropping the pod, the aircraft released it mid-air. The enormous container crashed into the ground and slid several hundred feet. It came to a stop just meters from an entrance. The doors dropped and terminators walked straight to the armored doors. They wouldn't hold long.

Shock was all the machine felt. The aerial had learned from the other's mistakes. Before she could respond, the A-8 sharply turned and came around for another strafing pass. Stinger teams on the ground fired from a dozen different positions. Explosions ripped through the aircraft's body before it had a chance to fire.

Like a bird with a broken wings, the vehicle lost control and spun towards the ground, narrowly missing Cameron's position. Whether it was intentional or not, it struck the line of armored vehicles. John's jeep was one of the vehicles beneath the craft as it crashed into the ground.


	14. Chapter 14 Future's Hope

**Chapter XIV: Future's Hope**

Cameron stood and watched the hulking aerial come to a stop. The vehicle in front of John's had taken the brunt of the impact, folding under the hundreds of tons of metal alloys and armor composites. The aircraft flipped on impact and John' vehicle was hit by the lighter tail section of the craft.

His vehicle was buried in the debris of the aircraft; the machine couldn't see any exposed parts. Cameron calculated a 8.68% chance of survival for the driver of the armored jeep. John's was marginally better at 25.32%.

Cameron turned to a Captain and spoke to her. "Don't let the endoskeletons get in. I'll be back."

Before the woman could answer, Cameron took off running. She forced herself to run faster than she had ever ran before. Other men and woman joined her, desperate to pull their leader from the jeep. Cameron felt tears building in her eyes.

"Please, John. Please."

Cameron was the first to reach the destroyed aircraft. She found the place where John's jeep was crushed and started to pull debris away. The soldiers finally caught up and started helping her.

Piece by piece, the crushed jeep began to emerge from the wreckage. The front of the vehicle was completely destroyed. Cameron knew the driver would be dead. It's front end had completely collapsed under the aircraft. The command section, where John sat, fared better.

They finally pulled a piece of armor plating and revealed a window. Cameron tried to pull the door open, but only succeeded in ripping the handle off. The impact had flexed the body panels and wrenched the doors in place. In several strikes, she punched out a bulletproof window and peeked in. John was at the floor of the vehicle. He moved a little.

She tried again to tear the door off. A soldier stopped her.

"Wait!" he said aiming his plasma rifle. He shot out the hinges of the door.

This time the machine was able to pull the door off. She stepped into the vehicle and approached John. She ran her fingers over him, attempting to find any injuries or broken bones. He had several flesh wounds and possibly a concussion, but nothing too severe.

John groaned. "Am I dead?"

"No, John. Not by a long shot."

He opened his eyes and smiled. "Are you sure? I'm seeing angels…"

Cameron laughed a little through the tears. She had never been more scared in her life. She delicately kissed John, not caring if the soldiers knew. It was only confirming what most of them already suspected. Their moment of peace ended with a chilling radio transmission on Cameron's headset.

"They have breached the bunker! They are in Serrano Point!"

John shook his head and sat up. "I was on the radio with Perry. They're setting up defensive points around the two entrances to the TDE."

Cameron helped him out of the jeep. He had difficulty standing. "I'll stop them, John. I'll stop every one."

"Go ahead, without me. You can lead-"

The machine shook her head. "I'm not leaving you again."

The two, surrounded by a group of over 30 soldiers, made their way to the base. Cameron bandaged John's wounds as they walked. He was recovering quickly from the crash. They approached the entrance to the base a few minutes later.

Cameron gave John her plasma rifle and picked up an M-95 from one of the fallen endoskeletons. Developed by Skynet exclusively for use with terminators, the rifle was much larger and more powerful than the standard plasma rifles of the resistance. It was a too heavy for most people, but Cameron handled it with ease.

John stayed near the end of the group as Cameron led the soldiers into the entrance. The entered carefully and quietly. The machine felt sorry for the humans entering the base. The air was saturated with the smell of plasma discharge and blood. They heard the sounds of gunfire and screaming deeper in the base.

The hallway lights flickered off. The men and women around Cameron cursed as they switched on their weapon lights. The machine constantly kept an eye on John, watching him as he followed. As they continued, they found more and more bodies. People that had died fighting the machines.

About halfway to the rear of the base, they started to come across destroyed endoskeletons. T-800s were the first to fall to the base defenders; T-888s had heavier plasma protection and were better programmed to engage in close-quarters combat. Cameron signaled the squad to stop and cautiously approached a fallen T-888.

It's infiltration sheath was burned and torn to shreds by plasma fire. It sat in a corner with multiple plasma burns in it's face. Cameron couldn't find any evidence of CPU damage.

Immediately, she stomped on the rifle in it's hand, crushing it. Before it could get up, Cameron grabbed the terminator by the neck and slammed in onto the ground, facedown. Men and women in her squad pointed their rifles at it. The machine aimed her rifle at the rear of the T-888's skull and fired.

The purple bolts of plasma reflected off the skull a few times before one found it's way through the terminator's CPU port cover. It instantly shutdown and stopped moving. Cameron looked at the soldiers around her.

"Be careful."

"John Connor….won't hold out long…pushed through south….entrance compromised." It was Perry's voice. His radio signal went silent.

John looked at Cameron. "We have to move fast."

Being careful to check every fallen terminator and covering their sides, the group moved at a pace no faster than a steady walk. It took about five minutes to reach Perry's position. They silently came up behind a group of terminator's that were engaging him and his soldiers.

Cameron signaled to the soldiers to take cover. They took up positions in the hall, covered by metal and concrete supports. One terminator turned around just as Cameron called out to attack.

"Now!"

The hallway lit up in a dazzling display of blue, white and purple plasma fire. Heavily outgunned, the terminator's fell to the gunfire on both sides. Three soldiers next to Cameron died. The five terminators fell within thirty seconds. The machine hit her rifle on the wall and called out.

"Friends!"

"Who?" A voice called back to her.

"Cameron and John."

Major General Perry's head peeked over the cover. John ran over to him and Cameron followed.

"Good to see you alive, sir."

John nodded. "Perry, did any endos make it through here?"

"No, sir. We held this line. But-"

"But what?"

"We lost contact with the south entrance to the TDE. We think they may have been compromised."

"Damn it. Do you have any TDE techs, Perry?"

"Right here, sir." A young man stepped forward. Cameron recognized him as one of the junior technicians that worked on the time machine.

John pointed at him. "You're with us. We may need you."

The group made their way to the south entrance of the TDE. Perry was right; there were no survivors. Dozens of bodies lay scattered across the halls. The terminators left none alive. Cameron felt the room shake. The time machine was active.

After passing the defensive position of the dead resistance troops, they arrived at the final heavy door leading to the TDE. Scorch marks from plasma fire covered the door. The terminators had shot it repeatedly and then forced it open. John went to the front of the group.

"If it's metal and it's not her, shoot it." John said pointing to Cameron.

"If you're not sure, shoot it. We take this room back now. Are we clear?"

Everyone in the group quietly acknowledged John. He moved to enter the room but Cameron stopped him.

"Let me go first, so I can protect you." John nodded.

Cameron aimed her rifle and slowly stepped through the door. Emergency lighting only provided a little illumination in the hallway. John came behind Cameron and dozens of troops followed.

The first terminator holding a defensive position in the hallway was completely overpowered by the soldiers. Hundreds of plasma bolts cut the machine down in mere seconds. They approached the entry point to the TDE without any other resistance. The whole area started to shake again. Before John could say anything, Cameron charged into the room.

There were five terminators in the room. One, had an infiltration sheath and was standing on the platform, waiting for it to activate. Cameron tried to shoot it, but was blocked by another T-888. She fired into the machine's eyes, temporarily blinding it.

Cameron was hit in the hand and leg. As she returned fire, John and a dozen soldiers entered the room, guns blazing. The machine was impressed with John's shooting skills; he was a superb shot with a plasma rifle, hitting the terminators in the eyes like she did.

The terminator on the TDE platform vanished but the gunfight continued. Dozens more soldiers flowed into the room. The terminators had trouble picking individual targets so they instead focused their firepower on the entrances. When the last terminator was destroyed, 35 people had been killed in the firefight.

Cameron ran over to John. "Are you okay?"

John nodded. "Secure the area, and let the techs get to the TDE!" he called out to the crowd.

The majority of the soldiers went to the exits and set up positions. Several technicians furiously worked on the computers surrounding the equipment.

"How many got through?"

The technician looked at the data and readouts on the computer.

"Ah, Jesus…uh….at least a dozen."

"What?!"

"Yeah, with these readouts…and look how much as reserves are drained…I'd say a dozen. Look at all these power spikes…"

"You're saying there are twelve terminators walking in the past?"

The technician nodded.

"Doing what?" John asked.

"Trying to undo what you've done. Trying to ensure Skynet's success in the war." Cameron replied.

"So what do we do?"

Cameron went close to John and looked him in the eye. "You know what I have to do."

John shook his head. "No. There's gotta be some other way."

"Sir." the technician interrupted.

"We've got enough juice to send one person back but the power reserve is failing. We need to act quick."

John ran his hands through his hair. "Where did all these terminators go?"

"All we've got is the programmed destination for the last one. 1999."

John looked at Cameron. "2007 was when Skynet really got it's start. Why 1999?"

"It's after you, John. It's going to try to kill you and I need to be there to protect you. When you're safe, I'll stop the others."

John looked back at the technician. "How much time do we have?"

The man looked at the screen. "Five minutes."

John looked to Perry. "Get me a first aid kit."

John used military skin-bonder to close the openings Cameron had in her flesh. Basically a non-toxic superglue, it sealed her wounds fairly easily. Tears began to build in the machine's eyes. It felt like it was going to be the last time her human companion would touch her skin.

She tried to remain strong for John. The machine didn't want to make it any harder for him, but she had difficulty controlling herself. John closed the last wound on her cheek. He wiped her tears away with a smile; there were tears in his eyes as well.

"Cameron, I don't think I'll be ready."

"What do you mean?"

"Fifteen year old me. I don't think you should tell me everything. Not until I'm ready…"

John was referring to their relationship and Cameron's ability to feel emotions. Cameron didn't want to lie or keep anything from him in the past, but she respected his decision.

"How will I know when you're ready?"

"You'll know…" he said embracing the machine.

"I'm gonna miss you…"

Cameron hugged him back and kissed him. "I love you, John. I always will."

"I'll always love you, Cameron. No matter what happens."

They separated. "Remember that." he said.

The technician called out to them. "Thirty seconds!"

The TDE began to shake. The loud droning of the equipment reverberated throughout the room. Cameron and John walked hand in hand, up to the platform. Perry joined them. He saluted Cameron.

"Miss Phillips. It's been an honor."

Cameron saluted back and shook his hand. Perry smiled and stepped off the platform. Cameron and John hugged and kissed one final time. Ten seconds before the jump, they released each other. John stepped back, off of the platform. Cameron could barely hear him.

"I love you."

"I love you." she replied.

White light surrounded the machine. Warnings and information flooded her vision and roaring of the TDE became deafening. Cameron's last sight was of John's kind smile.

**Author's Note: This is not the last chapter of True Colors. There is still one more, so stay tuned!**


	15. Chapter 15 Past Endeavors

**Chapter XV: Past Endeavors**

*****WARNING*****

*GYROSCOPIC BALANCE UNIT DAMAGED*

*AUXILIARY GYROCOPIC UNITS DAMAGED*

*UNIT STANDING/WALKING/RUNNING CAPACITY COMPROMISED*

*****WARNING*****

For a short moment, Cameron felt weightless. Her body, not sensing gravity, automatically assumed that the hardware associated with her balance was damaged. A second after John's face disappeared, it became calm.

Her hair floated in the air; her clothes had vaporized in the flash of white light, briefly causing the machine pain. Cameron looked around but could only see overpowering white light. Looking down, she could barely see her body. Cycling through her various visual modes did nothing to help.

Cameron began to sense what felt like wind on her skin. It began to blow stronger and stronger, whistling in her ears. The machine felt like she was falling. The faint whistle of the wind grew into a deafening roar.

She could hear voices. Most of them sounded like the technicians operating the TDE. Cameron wondered if something had gone wrong or if this was normal. She heard John's voice again. It echoed around her.

"I love you."

After a few seconds, the machine sensed solid earth beneath her skin. She crouched low and balanced herself with a hand to the ground. The bubble of white light surrounding her disappeared and the roaring stopped. Cameron looked around.

It was late at night. The machine was in the construction zone of a new property. The time bubble had appeared on the corner of an unfinished house. A perfect sphere was carved into the wood and sand beneath her.

The machine stood up. The skin on her feet sizzled beneath, burning on the molten glass that was once sand. She walked out onto the street and looked into the clear night sky. Cameron confirmed it was 1999.

She stuck to the shadows as she made her way into the city. Cameron needed a weapon, money, clothes and computers to aid in her search. John had told her that his mother moved them around constantly during this time period. It was not going to be easy to find him. Still, that meant the T-888 would have a difficult time looking.

After an hour, Cameron came across a 24 hour pawn shop. The machine stayed in the shadows and watched it for a few minutes. There was only one man in the shop; Cameron looked around to make sure no one else was in the area. She walked to the door.

The man was turned around, working on inventory when Cameron stepped in.

"Just a minute…I'll be with you in a second."

Cameron quickly walked over to him without saying anything. The man turned around when she was just a few feet a way.

"What in the hell-"

The machine grabbed the man by the neck and swiftly rammed his head into the wall behind him. She was careful not to use too much force. The search could take weeks and killing someone would not be a wise decision. She needed to remain fairly inconspicuous.

The man fell to the ground, unconscious. The machine looked around and found some clothes. After putting them on, she went to the gun counter at the rear of the store. She had a choice of a dozen different assault rifles, shotguns and pistols. One of them caught her eye.

It was a Colt M1911, like the one John carried. His was a former government issued handgun built in 1955. It was well built and reliable, but there were many newer, superior firearms John could have carried. Cameron had asked him why he carried such an old weapon.

"'Cause it reminds me of a more optimistic time." his words echoed in her memory.

The machine punched through the glass display and took the gun and two magazines. She briefly looked it over before loading it; the Colt was built in 1963. Cameron concealed the weapon and looked around for computers.

She found two functional laptops. The machine put them in a duffle bag and continued to the rear of the store where the safe was housed. After a few minutes, Cameron had the safe open and took five thousand dollars which she also tossed into the bag.

She left the pawn shop through the back door and walked for a few miles until she found a park bench. There, she waited until it was morning.

Cameron found that most humans were very cooperative if they were bribed. When she found a suitable apartment, she paid the man an extra five hundred dollars to not ask any questions or request any documentation. It was similar when she purchased an old pickup truck.

Night fell when Cameron had finally set up her base of operations. She had the two laptops searching every FBI and police database for any entries and constantly listened to the news on radio and TV.

Cameron laid down on the bed that came with the apartment. After leaving John, she had forced herself to remain emotionless. Any type of emotion could have slowed her progress and endangered John. Now, all she could do was wait.

The bed she laid upon felt empty. She took the handgun and placed it beside her. It reminded her of John and briefly made her feel better. Cameron started at the ceiling and viewed pictures and video she had taken of John.

With most of them, he had no idea he was being recorded. Cameron preferred it that way. She felt like it was a truer representation of him. There were only pictures and videos of him being happy or smiling.

"I think he'll probably have to stay in the back of the base…" John said smirking at her.

Cameron quietly giggled again. She felt tears building in her eyes. She rolled over on to her side in the bed. She played video of him in bed looking across at her.

"I love you, Cameron."

"I love you, too." she whispered to the video.

That night, Cameron cried. She had experienced tears and sadness before, but never at this extreme. The machine lay in bed and cried for several hours before she stopped. She wanted to use the emergency TDE John mentioned. She wanted to leave 1999 and return to 2027, but she couldn't. John needed her here.

The days went by slowly for Cameron. She passed the time in her apartment, constantly monitoring every piece of news she could find and followed up on leads that her computers gave her. Weeks began to pass. Cameron's second month in the past was easier.

A new resolve came to the machine. She was stuck in the past, but at least she could help John become the man he was, or the man he would be. It was hard not having him around but it got a little easier every day. She looked forward to the day she would meet him again.

On her 71st day in the past, both Cameron's laptops alerted her with information from the FBI and the Nebraska state police. Sarah Reese had been reported missing with her son and the FBI was investigating. Sarah Reese was also known to the FBI as the armed and dangerous Sarah Connor.

Cameron smiled and began scouring the internet for any information on the whereabouts of Sarah's vehicle. John had told Cameron about how much his mother loved the American southwest. It was close to the Mexican border and had many places to hide. It was ideal for her.

Over the next day, the machine scoured the FBI databases for information regarding southern California, New Mexico, Arizona and west Texas. Eventually, she found a gas station's security camera footage. It had a vehicle that was possibly a Jeep Wagoneer entering Red Valley, New Mexico.

Cameron hacked into the school directories of Red Valley and began to search for any new students. John Reese was among them. He had no picture, but Cameron calculated a 95% chance that it was him. She quickly created a new school profile and schedule, and left the room.

The machine ran out of the apartment, only stopping to grab her keys and a wad of cash. She jumped into the truck and drove east, to Red Valley. Averaging 70 miles an hour, she would arrive in New Mexico within ten hours. Just early enough to meet him in school and confirm his identity.

Cameron drove through the night, slowing only when she detected police cars on the roads. It was mostly quiet for the trip, so she kept the truck at 75 miles an hour. She arrived in Red Valley just before dawn.

At 6:00AM, the machine pulled into the high school and parked the truck. It was obviously still early, so Cameron went over John's schedule and decided when she would make contact. When the machine created her school schedule, she had managed to squeeze herself into a morning class with him.

Cameron purposely entered the school a little late, so she could look at every face as she walked into the classroom. None of the boys in the class resembled John. She sat down quietly and waited. A few minutes later, another boy walked into the class.

He walked in quietly, not looking at anybody and sat down a few desks away from the machine. He had longer hair but Cameron could see his facial structure. She almost jumped when she got a good look at him. It was 15 year old John Connor.

Cameron looked at the teenager that sat before her. The youthful face this young man carried looked nothing like the John Connor she knew. There were no scars, no burns and he didn't have the thousand yard stare that the survivors of Judgment Day wore. He was just a child.

Cameron briefly felt disappointment. She obviously didn't expect to see the same battle-hardened man she once knew, but it felt odd seeing John Connor so vulnerable. She decided to confirm his identity.

"What's your name?" she whispered to him.

The boy turned his head and looked at her. "John."

AUDIO RECOGNITION ANALYSIS (VOICE)

VOICE CONFIRMATION: CONNOR, JOHN

CONFIRMATION ACCURACY: 100.00%

In that moment, Cameron saw the hint of a smile. The same smile that she had fallen in love with. Instantly, her thoughts of disappointment were replaced with happiness. She was no longer in the future but it didn't matter; she would stand by John's side, watch over him and protect him, now and forever.

John continued to look at her, expecting to hear a name. The machine simply smiled.

"Cameron."

-The End-

**Author's Note**: Well that's it. Hope you all liked it. Thanks to everyone who took time to read and review the story. I appreciate all your comments and compliments! Remember to keep TSCC alive. It's only dead if we forget about it. Who knows? Maybe we'll see True Colors as a straight to DVD film (since Friedman will never reveal his story of Cameron)...A guy can always dream :)

I may make a Season 3 fic in the future, but I see no need for it now. TSCC has already got a bunch of talented fanfic writers working on that. If I ever do, you can be sure it will be related to True Colors. I think that's all I have to say.

No fate,

-Mo


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